


Lies On

by reaperlight



Category: Death Note
Genre: Absence, Acting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Humor, Animal Magnetism, Apartment, Apples, Arguing, Attempted Rape, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Sexual Situations, Awkwardness, Best Friends, Birthday Party, Blackmail, Blow Jobs, Body Horror, Buffyverse - Freeform, Childhood Friends, Closeted Character, Coffee Shops, Coitus Interruptus, College, Coming Out, Commitment, Cultural References, Demon Sex, Demon Summoning, Demons, Dessert & Sweets, Detectives, Doctor/Patient, Dom/sub, Dreaming, Drunkeness, Early in Canon, Embarrassment, Enemy Lovers, Exhibitionism, F/F, F/M, Family Annihilator, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Fangplay, First Crush, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Flying, Foe Yay, Foot Fetish, Forgiveness, Frenemies, Friendship, Gift Giving, God Complex, Gossip, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Hand Jobs, Harry Potter - Freeform, Heartbreak, Hero Worship, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Horns, Horror, Hospitals, Hotel Sex, Humiliation, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Erections, Incest Vibes, Insanity, Insecurity, Interspecies, Isolation, Jealousy, Kink Meme, Kissing, Law Enforcement, Loneliness, Love Confessions, Lovesick, M/M, Magic, Male Homosexuality, Massage, Matsuda Is An Idiot, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mind Control, Mind Games, Miscommunication, Misery, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Monsters, Mutual Masturbation, My Litte Pony, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nightmares, Nonhuman Sex, Obsession, Pheromones, Pillow Fight, Pillow Talk, Polyamory, Pop Culture, Possessive Behavior, Post-Apocalypse, Power Imbalance, Pride, Prostate Massage, Prostitution, Protectiveness, Pyromania, Queen Songs, Rape/Non-con References, Recreational Drug Use, Religion, Roleplay, Roommates, Secret Identity, Secrets, Seduction, Seizures, Serial Killers, Sex Toys, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Humor, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Shinigami, Shower Sex, Situational Humiliation, Slash, Songfic, Souichiro's A+ Parenting, Stalking, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Summoning Circles, Swearing, Tail Sex, Tails, Teratophilia, Tickling, Tongues, Transformation, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, Underwear, Undressing, Unwanted Advances, Verbal Humiliation, Voice Kink, Voyeurism, What-If, Wingfic, Wordcount: 50.000-100.000, Wordcount: Over 50.000, X-Men: Evolution - Freeform, Yakuza, Yaoi, Yuri, candy shop, humor and angst, hyperactive libido, incubus, incubus!Light, magical boyfriend, minor canon character(s), power mullet, toe sucking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-10
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2017-11-07 11:33:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 81,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/430654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reaperlight/pseuds/reaperlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Perhaps in some other world, some other time, Light's demonic blood would have remained dormant and he would have never known the power that was his true birthright. Light is acting strangely so L moves in for a closer look—bad move. Light x L Yaoi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Strange

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N:** Another one for the Kink meme dn-kink2. http://dn-kink2.livejournal.com/1491.html?thread=1185747#t1185747 for request: Light becomes an incubus. 
> 
> This will be yaoi Light x L pairing (with one-sided… everyone x Light) 
> 
> I do not own Death Note.
> 
> I’d like to announce we have fanart for this story! I’d like to thank tigerlilyquack and noblewolfyhell at Deviantart.com who drew these awesome pictures for this story: 
> 
> http://tigerlilyquack.deviantart.com/art/Light-287595348
> 
> http://noblewolfyhell.deviantart.com/art/light-yagimi-demon-290166860

**_Perhaps in some other world, some other time, Light's demonic blood would have remained dormant and he would have never known the power that was his true birthright. All it took was just one careless bite from a certain Shinigami who got a little too eager to eat an apple which Light held out, arrogantly, in his outstretched hand. Light scolded Ryuk for his carelessness but at the time he couldn't guess the repercussions that it would have—how he had just been infected and how this infection coupled with his heavy notebook usage and, for the first time in his life, seriously lusting after someone was playing havoc with his mind and body, causing an alchemical chain reaction that would culminate on the 28th of February, his eighteenth birthday…_ **

***

Light held soft raven locks in an iron grip as he forced the man's head down and trailed soft kisses across pale, unmarked skin of his neck and back. The other man writhed wantonly beneath him, his dark, ever-staring eyes were dulled and hooded with lust, but his cries were silent. (Light never heard his voice and his subconscious never supplied him with one.) The teen was just getting to the really interesting part of his dream when he awoke, once again to cold sweat and stained sheets.

The brunet fell back against his pillow with a groan.

It all began about a month ago. Light had listlessly filed into the exam hall just before the doors were closed, blinking against the harsh fluorescent lights that over-lit the room. He strode forward to take his seat, ignoring the other student's usual stares of awe and envy. Yes, he knew he was handsome and was at the top of the class. He didn't need them to remind him of how awesome he was. ( Just imagine if they knew that their _God_ went to school with them...) Light merely (regally) nodded in return of Yamamoto's eager waving before taking his seat. He kept his eyes forward and ignored the staring.

Maybe it was just the paranoia talking but he could swear more people were staring at him lately. He had mixed feelings about that. It was his rightful due as God of the New World to be afforded respect and admiration. However Light doubted that was the intent behind their stares—no doubt their motives were less than pure and in any case he didn't want to attract unwanted attention. And for some reason he was getting asked out much more often than before (Light hadn't thought that was possible) by girls and guys alike. (He'd rather they didn't stare so until _after_ he had finished cleansing the world and they knew him as God and afforded him the proper respect...) But now... he found it unnerving, and he always worried that they somehow knew his secrets.

Perhaps he _should_ date more girls just to keep up appearances because if his father found out he was gay... Light had no doubt that shouting "I AM KIRA" at the top of his lungs to a room full of irritable, doughnut-deprived, cops with loaded guns would be a safer course of action...

Light rested his chin in his hand as he waited, jadedly, for the test to begin. It was beyond irritating. He knew he was the smartest person here. Yet, here he had to prove it again, to jump through all the hoops. But what can you do? (Except _show them_ , of course.) Still, it was annoying and it took away from his time. He could be using it to do something so much more _productive..._

"And begin!" announced the proctor. Light stared at the blank page for a minute before resignedly picking up his pencil. This was new. Usually his focus was flawless and the answers would come effortlessly but for some reason he'd been feeling kind of distracted lately. Maybe it was the staring... no, it was more than that. It felt like something was crawling in the pit of his stomach. Weird. Maybe he had too much wasabi in his lunch. The teen twirled the pencil in his hand and then focused determinedly on the test before him. He'd wait until the very end of the test to write his name at the top of the sheet. Ever since he picked up the Death Note he always got nervous about writing his own name. He had just begun to run through the questions when he felt a prickling feeling at the nape of his neck like he was being watched... Well of course he was being watched—even though the exam had begun the other students were in the process of testing they were still sneaking glances at him or maybe his test paper trying to copy his answers. There was also Ryuk's constant staring but that was to be expected. It was familiar and Light considered it to be harmless. His Shinigami floated in the back of the exam hall—Light had with much patience (and with many apples as incentive) finally trained the monster to respect his personal space, especially when he was working like this. It wasn't his classmate's or Ryuk's staring that was making him nervous; it was a stranger's eyes he felt upon him.

Just then the proctor walked by scolding "Student number 162! Sit properly in your chair."

With a rising sense of foreboding Light slowly turned around to see the source of the disturbance and saw the strange man staring at him.

That stranger. Light only saw him at the exam hall but "Student Number 162" had left quite an impression, he had been haunting his dreams ever since.

It was really beginning to get on his nerves.

Having stalkers was hardly a new phenomenon for Light Yagami. But his being attracted to one of them most definitely was. This was honestly the first time he had ever… lusted after anyone. Light decided he didn't like it. It was stupid, embarrassing, and a waste of time. After all, what were the odds he'd ever see him again? (Perhaps he should have… No. Kira did not have regrets.)

It wasn't that he was fantasizing about another guy that so disturbed him. Light was well-aware of where his own preferences lay (not that he'd want to make them known. After all, he had an image to maintain.) It was the object of his desires. Why had he become so infatuated with a man that should by all rights disgust him? Well… maybe he might be a perfectly nice guy if he got to know him but still Light's first impression was that the guy was a _creep_. The unkempt pale, gangly, foreign weirdo had been staring at him all throughout the testing. His newest stalker would be there every day, Light would look over his shoulder to see the same greasy hair, the same wrinkled, baggy white sweater and jeans that he looked like he slept in... assuming he slept at all. And the guy kept getting yelled at for sitting oddly in his desk—no that didn't do it justice—the other man had been sitting with his bare toes wiggling on the surface of his desk. He took his test holding his pencil with the tips of his fingers. He looked like… like a _retarded monkey!_

Which begged the question—why the hell was he attracted to him?

Well... perhaps it was because the man had such a perfect air of mystery about him? Every time Light had stolen a glance his raven had always worn that same bland, blank expression on his face, betraying nothing of what he was actually thinking (and here Light thought _his_ poker face was good.) And that he could get away with coming to the testing dressed like that actually said a lot. Touhou would never consider letting some crackhead off the street into their school so to get away with this behavior he must be really influential or really smart… or both. Maybe he was someone famous like an actor or teen idol without his makeup or computer enhancements? Actually that made a lot of sense. A celebrity wanting to go to school unmolested might affect such a persona in order to keep a low profile. And his mystery man did kind of look like a rock star. Hell, he could be Hideki Ryuuga for all he knew...

And the other man was confident. That more than anything was probably what had held Light's attention. The other man didn't look away when Light caught him staring. No one had ever dared to hold his gaze before—they all looked away, but not this man. He stared right back. And while Light was loathe to admit it; he had found that incredibly attractive. In the end Light was the first to break their stare off. He had flushed, fidgeted in his seat, and crossed his legs under the desk in an attempt to stay focused on the exam in front of him.

During the final day of testing Light had remained after taking the test to watch his watcher. His stalker always finished only a couple minutes after he did… Or maybe he had finished earlier and was waiting for him? (No… impossible. No one could finish a test faster than him. Well that is to say no one could finish the test faster than him and _pass_ …) His stranger had moved oddly too, when he unfolded himself from his desk. He shuffled along with slumped shoulders—perhaps he had a back problem? Yet despite this (or maybe even because of this?) there was that underlying confidence that Light found so very attractive. The stranger handed in his test without a care and then stretched his arms above his head, loudly popping his back and revealing a tantalizing glimpse of what lay beneath those baggy clothes. Light had openly stared at the taut muscles of the man's stomach. He was lithe but strong, he must work out. Maybe he had a personal trainer? Light's eyes followed the slight curve of the man's hips to where they disappeared into the red rim of his boxers which were peaking out above the rim of those sagging blue jeans.

The raven-haired stranger finished his stretching and just seemed to notice Light's staring. He smiled at him and the God of the New World suddenly found himself weak in the knees. Light had nearly approached the other man at that point, just to say "hi" or something, but had talked himself out of it at the last moment. He hadn't _really_ chickened out. Not him. Not Light Yagami, Kira, the God-To-Be was not the least bit nervous about... asking someone out. (Come to think of it he never really had just asked someone out before—they always came to him.) There were numerous perfectly logical reasons why it would have been a bad idea—there were too many people around, asking a strange man he didn't know out for coffee would probably be seen as gay… and Light was perfectly happy in the closet, really… It wasn't worth the risk of his exposure. And things were just too weird right now. Seriously. He did not _need_ to be in a relationship.

Light lay, still in a half-asleep haze, nestled deep into damp blankets, staring at his ceiling. He needed to get up and change those… Dammit, he wished he was back in his dream! Because now he would have to get up and deal with all the crap of another day. More draining demands on his time, more stress, more boredom, more rude and rotten people, more mind-fuckery courtesy of L... (and no raven-haired beauty waiting for him...) Light yawned and stretched and for the first time became conscious of the odd sensations, the shifting weight on his back and head and his own body awareness snapped into focus...

 **"Hey Light, are you awake yet?"** Ryuk's voice floated in through the wall just before he did. **"I know you said those were supposed to last the week but we're kind of out of apples now and I really need one bad— _Woah!_ "**

"Ryuk! _What the fuck did you do?"_

The Shinigami just stood there, stunned speechless as he gawked at his (former) human.


	2. Changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I do not own Death Note. This is for entertainment only. I make no money off of this.
> 
> Light's new Incubus powers of being super attractive to everyone cause him problems already because with it comes unwanted attention from ALL corners...
> 
> Warning: Slight Ryuk/Light moment played for laughs but that is not the pairing for this story.

"What have you done?" Light demanded as Ryuk continued to gawk, too fascinated by the glimpse of cute little cat-like fangs that appeared every time Light opened his mouth (kind of like that one guy on Sayu's anime programs) to register what Light was actually saying. "You're dead!" Light snarled and without further warning he lunged at Ryuk. To the Shinigami's further surprise Light's new claws actually left a mark. Sure, they healed immediately but to be able to touch him, to hurt him that way... _That_ snapped Ryuk out of his stupor and he worked to keep the enraged teen at arm's length.

 **"Woah, woah, woah! Settle down, kid. I had nothing to do with this!"** Ryuk insisted, though the words rang false even as he said them. Come to think of it he had never seen the notebook so fully corrupt a human before (that was part of what made Light so fascinating.) And sometimes Ryuk swore that he would catch a glimpse of something—a hellish red glow in Light's eyes. That was NOT a human trait. Shinigami had such eyes... so did demons. Crap, he should've seen it sooner! What were the rules if a demon has your notebook? Would he get in trouble for this?

The clincher though was up till yesterday Light had a human lifespan that Ryuk could see. But today the number was gone replaced by a symbol like a twisting ribbon, a side-ways figure eight... infinity. Little mortal Light pretending to be a God—that was funny, but _this...?_ Ryuk was frequently shocked and amazed at the depths Light would sink to in order to further his goals. He was by far more twisted, more _evil_ than a Shinigami could ever hope to be and to think that Light was now at least just as powerful... For the first time in centuries Ryuk felt something akin to fear as he realized his prank wasn't so funny anymore...

And if Light wasn't human did that mean the notebook would have no effect if he were to write his name so he'd be stuck with Light for well... until Light forfeited ownership (but what were the odds of _that_ happening?) Oh man, and Shidoh! He only meant to borrow his notebook for a few decades just to have a little bit of fun. Seeing as he seriously doubted Light would be willing part with "his" notebook he had just given his old pal a death sentence!

Oh well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it... Ryuk had his own problems at the moment—such as Light trying to claw his face off. The teen had become a flurry of claws and crimson wings as the new demon attacked him. It was ultimately ineffectual as Ryuk healed the hits he took and managed to keep Light at bay. Ryuk growled and grabbed the younger demon by the horns and held him aloft and at arm's length. Light was so shocked by the realization that he _had_ horns that he stopped his assault.

Shinigami and demon eyed each other warily.

Light just hung there, panting heavily having a minor panic attack. Ryuk watched the rise and fall of Light's bare chest and realized that when Light wasn't trying to kill him... Light made a _very attractive_ demon... Ryuk was by no means an expert on the rules but he was fairly certain that Rule 36 did not mention anything about demons and if he was stuck with Light anyway...

Meanwhile, Light did not like Ryuk holding him by the horns... nor the new twist to the Shinigami's grin. _At all._ The Shinigami almost seemed... _lecherous._

"Ryuk... _Let. Go._ " Light growled in a commanding tone, his voice changing several octaves deeper than normal and promising a slow and painful death should the Shinigami defy him.

The Shinigami looked unhappy but complied. **"Sure. Whatever you say… _Kira._ "**

Even in the midst of his panicking that change of address gave Light pause. Ryuk had never called him that before. He had told the Shinigami he didn't particularly like the name that the masses had chosen to give him. Could it be that Ryuk was actually _afraid_ of him?

Good.

He hadn't really intended to attack the Shinigami but if Ryuk was actually scared of him then maybe he'd be more obedient in the future.

No sooner had Ryuk set him down then Light rushed to his closet to assess the damage in his full-length door mirror…

"I can't look like this... _I can't! _" Light was repeating it over and over again as if wishing it would make it so. It was no secret that Light was very vain about his looks and while new superpowers were cool looking like a freak was definitely not. Ryuk didn't see what the problem was. He hadn't thought it was possible but Light looked even prettier than before...__

In his haste (and not knowing his own strength) Light accidentally yanked the heavy wooden door off its hinges. Light stumbled back and fell on his ass. Ryuk caught the mirror before it shattered on him. Ryuk didn't particularly care if Light got hurt; he just didn't want to have to deal with a berserking demon Light any more than he had to. Still it was an act of caring so uncharacteristic of the Shinigami it again momentarily shocked Light out of his current panic.

"Thanks."

**"Hyuk. No problem."**

Light got up and took the door from Ryuk. He knew the door to be heavy but when he picked it up with one hand it felt like it weighed nothing.

"This… now this is interesting." While these changes were very problematic (very, _VERY_ )... this could also be to his advantage.

Ryuk's grin widened.

That's right, when he attacked Ryuk he had felt it, he had hit harder than he had hit anyone in his life. Light cringed as he realized belatedly that that wasn't particularly nice. The Death Note and Shinigami existed so other types of magic might exist as well... something _else_ that might explain this—so it was plausible that Ryuk really didn't have anything to do with it. That meant the Shinigami was innocent—Kira didn't punish innocents—only the guilty and those who opposed him (who were also guilty because they defied his law) and while they weren't exactly friends, Light was grateful to Ryuk for granting him his powers. Ryuk didn't seem to be holding any hard feelings about it but Light still made a mental note to buy him extra apples later.

Light prided himself on being a model teenager, the perfect human being with perfect control over his emotions. That he _snapped_ like that scared him even more than these bizarre changes that were happening to his body. These changes must have been having an effect on his psychological state because he had never snapped like that before! (Killing Lind L. Tailor _that one time_ didn't count in Light-logic.) That meant he would have to be so much more careful from now on... Good thing he was such a meticulous person anyway. Yes, he'd be fine—especially if he was able to distance himself from his family. It was perfectly natural for a normal college student to want to strike out on his own. He didn't even know his own strength-the last thing he wanted to do was cause a tragedy.

"Hey Light! You okay in there?" Sayu shouted from the other side of the door. _Crap._ She must have heard the loud thump that had accompanied his fall.

"Everything's fine!" Light insisted quickly, his voice slightly cracking. Luckily the door was locked.

"Well hurry up! Your breakfast is getting cold!"

"Right..."

Shit! He couldn't even leave the room looking like _THIS!_

Light again stared at his hands. These were not his hands. His nails grew out into wicked claws that were now stained with the inky ichor of Ryuk's black blood (Until now Light didn't even think Shinigami _could_ bleed.) Light stared at the mirror through sanguine eyes that gleamed with their own light and had become slitted like those of a cat or snake. His hair had grown long so that it now fell past his shoulders and it had taken on a more reddish-tinge. Light reached up and felt where the twin spiral horns sprouted out of his forehead following his hands' progress in the mirror with his eyes as he felt how they swept backwards up and over the top of his head. His horns ended in wicked tips so they weren't just for show. They could be used as a weapon if he so chose. Light smiled at the thought and the mirror displayed his new needle-like fangs. He cringed. That was a look more appropriate on Ryuk than on _him!_

_Right... calm down and focus on the positive..._

Light glanced at another addition he had woken up with—the large red, bat-like wings that protruded from his back. He had once joked to Ryuk about how it would be cool to have wings... it _was_ cool. Light fanned them out, finishing the job of ripping his pajama top to shreds. It made quite a statement as he posed in front of the mirror—Bold. Powerful. Godly. _AWESOME!_ Light smirked. Shirtless and with his wings and arms spread wide he well knew he was the very definition of sexy. Light gave his new wings an experimental flap, generating a wind that knocked over some of his papers and smaller desk objects. Light swelled with pride as he felt the latent power of his new wings. Oh man, he couldn't wait to test them out. To go flying... It was _AWESOME!_ That wasn't the problem. The problem was that it was very impractical. How the fuck could he possibly hide this? His new tail swished angrily just over the rim of his boxers. It was red like his wings and scaly but smooth. It felt nice to touch and was clearly designed to be used in inappropriate ways.

Jeez, was there anything left of him that was normal? It was like hitting puberty all over again... In a panic Light removed his boxers, paying no mind to his audience. Ryuk followed him everywhere, even the bathroom. He had seen everything before.

Well... Light decided these changes weren't all bad when he discovered he had gained several inches below. Fascinated, he felt the need to touch to confirm it.

Dumb move.

A few slight touches had him standing straight and a slight shudder went through him. How could he have this problem? He just came with his wet dream of his Raven writhing beneath and... _oh!_ Definitely had a problem now. His mind was screaming at him. This was the absolute worse time he should be thinking about jacking off! His body paid him no mind. He was roaring and ready to go like some kind of sex machine. His skin began producing something slimy that should by all rights have disgusted him at a visceral level. Instead he just found it convenient that he didn't need to reach for the lotion.

"Ha!" Light found himself leaning into touches he felt gliding down his back...

Wait, _what?_

"Ryuk what the _fuck_ are you doing?" Light roared. The Shinigami quickly withdrew his hands as if he just got burned from touching the demon. Perhaps he did.

 **"Er…"** The Shinigami quickly thought up an excuse for touching Light. **"My wings retract if I flex my muscles around here…"** Light shuddered as Ryuk traced along his shoulder blades. **"I was wondering if yours do too."**

Light breathed a sigh of relief. Ryuk was just being helpful. (Of course Ryuk wasn't... that was absolutely ridiculous!) What the fuck was wrong with him? Getting turned on by his pet Shinigami touching him? It was normal for Ryuk to get up into his personal space but it had never affected him like that before. _Ew!_ Well at least he no longer had that problem. He went limp soon after finding that unpleasant discovery. These changes must be playing havoc with his hormones. This was bad. _Really, really bad!_ He needed to find a way to take control of this situation and fast.

Light strained and concentrated on doing what Ryuk suggested. The wings did indeed disappear, retracting into his back. The other monstrous traits likewise disappeared. He looked (mostly) normal again. Well his eyes were still slightly redder than normal. His ears were still a bit more pointed than they were before but that was easily concealed by the strands of his hair (that looked normal again too). His eye-teeth were still a bit pointier too... and _THAT_ (Light eyed down below again) was still... big. (Light smirked about that last part. He couldn't wait to test that out too.) But those changes were easy enough to conceal. However this whole development was still a concern though. If he didn't have total control of these physical responses he could have horns or wings popping out at uncertain intervals-that was definitely not the way to keep a low profile.

 **"Better?"** Ryuk asked.

"Thanks," Light said grudgingly. "It wouldn't do for me to go around looking like a hideous beast."

 **"Eh? What are you talking about? You looked beautiful! You still do…"**

Light's jaw dropped as he met Ryuk's smoldering stare. The Shinigami was still standing too close for comfort. Unable to resist temptation Ryuk forcefully grabbed Light by the back of his head and kissed him full on the lips. Light shrieked in alarm, lashed out with his claws and staggered away his expression clearly reading "scarred for life."

 _"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! YOU DO **NOT!** OH **GOD!** "_ Light turned green and spat and looked like he was trying to wretch up the contents of his empty stomach.

Ryuk looked hurt. **"Uh… sorry…"** He began. Light sent him a scalding death glare. **"It's just you're just a very attractive demon… er human… uh… _whatever you are_ … shutting up now."** The Shinigami babbled in the face of Light's increasingly menacing stare. Light's eyes had reverted to that violent crimson color and flames were beginning to erupt out of his skin.

 _"NO APPLES!"_ Light declared in his deep, demon voice. Cowed, the Shinigami slunk away through the wall.

Once Light was sure Ryuk was gone he retracted his new demon parts and quickly got dressed. Light shuddered. Ryuk was probably still watching through the wall. The Shinigami returned a few moments later, bashfully scratched the back of his head.

 **"Sorry."** Ryuk tried again. He was admittedly not too good at things like subtlety.

Light ignored the Shinigami for a moment. Like it or not Ryuk would probably be hanging around him for the rest of his life. He had better clarify this right now... Light took a deep breath and began in a dangerously calm tone.

"Ryuk. I don't think of you that way. At all. _Ever._ I think it would be better if we were just friends, don't you?" As Light said this he again deployed his razor sharp claws and concentrated on that new power he had discovered, conjuring up a ball of fire in his hand. (That would definitely come in handy.) Light shot Ryuk a look that clearly read _try anything like that again and you will be the first I test it on._

Ryuk looked so sad. "Right…" But Ryuk perked up again when he realized that was what Light said _right now_ but as long as they were bound together they had eternity together to look forward to. Ryuk could wait. Light was sure to come around eventually. However, in the mean time...

 **"Say, you didn't mean that part about no apples, did you?"**

"Yes, I did." Light replied curtly as he put a jacket on over his shirt, becoming increasingly paranoid about putting any part of his body on display, worried about more changes erupting out at anytime... and what if it wasn't just Ryuk? No, it wasn't just Ryuk. More people _had_ been hitting on him lately... only _like EVERYONE!_ Until he figured all this out it would probably be for the best to stay away from people as much as possible.

**"Oh c'mon! That's just cruel! I said I was sorry!"**

Light ignored the Shinigami in favor of checking himself out in the mirror again to make sure he looked like his normal self before proceeding to head downstairs… and nearly had a heart attack. Ryuk cackled sadistically as Light gaped at where all his friends and family (minus his father) had gathered under a big banner declaring **"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIGHT!"**

It seemed Light really had forgotten...


	3. What's A Birthday?

One Month Ago

Light had just been walking home as usual, dodging the glances of strangers that seemed far too interested in him when he felt something odd in the pit of his stomach. For a moment he was so wracked with pain he had to take a pause in his walking. Ryuk immediately began to ask concerned questions about his health (and whether he should be writing Light's name down.) Of course Light insisted he was alright after that. He probably was... (Light couldn't know that he was already changing into what he would become...) Light shifted his bookbag on his shoulder and made a point of walking home proud and strong lest the Shinigami get the wrong idea. Maybe he was just tired. After all, things were awfully strange lately.

At school Preliminary results were in from the first day of testing. As expected he had perfect scores. However there was an unexpected development. So far he was tied with a "Hideki Ryuuga." That had thrown him. He had never _tied_ with anyone before. Not only that but the name... could his Raven really be _the_ Hideki Ryuuga?

Light was always alone, always hiding his true self away so he wouldn't get laughed at. He had learned to be sweet and charming, to project a mask of wholesome normalcy. But now there just might be another that was the same as him... he wasn't exactly sure how to take that. That he might have an intellectual equal out there was a very threatening idea now that he had begun his Kira project. However it was also exhilarating. Light wanted to seek this person out, to challenge him, to see if they truly were on the same level. And if it was his Raven... maybe they could... _talk_... (or maybe they could get to know each other on the most basic level.)

Light was disappointed to discover he couldn't find his Raven anywhere... Not that he had been looking. No, not at all...

***

"I'm home!" Light announced saccharinely as he walked in the door. Sachiko had watched her perfect son returned from yet another day at school to her pristine and perfect house which she had spent the morning meticulously cleaning. As always Light was careful to remove his shoes at the door to avoid tracking in nonexistent mud. After they exchanged greetings Sachiko watched as her son trudged up the stairs to his room, single-mindedly focused on his studies.

He was such a good boy.

Sachiko frowned a bit as she noticed the slight slump marring Light's otherwise perfect posture. Her son had seemed a bit down lately, like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Those entrance exams must have him really stressed out...

His mother tried to think of some inspiration on how she might cheer him up...

Light was halfway up the stairs when his mother called up after him "Light! Did you want anything? For your birthday? It's less than a month away!"

Light stopped and turned to address his mother and nearly had a face full of Ryuk when the unseen specter had come silently trailing in behind him. (He would have if the Shinigami wasn't out of phase at the moment.)

 **"Birthday?"** Ryuk asked; his curiosity peaked.

"Oh! Oh! Light! That's right! What do you want for your birthday?" Sayu chimed in enthusiastically.

Startled Light gripped the stair railing to avoid falling down the stairs in an uncharacteristic 'spazz-out moment.' Honestly all he wanted was more alone time with his notebook. His birthday did not at all work into his current plans for world domination.

"It's okay. I don't need anything. I don't want to cause a fuss..." Light began his rapid-fire excuses usually reserved for such situations as 'reasons-why-I-am-interesting-and-Ryuk-shouldn't-write-my-name-in-his-Death Note' and avoiding dates with girls. Ryuk figured that must mean that this birthday-thing must be serious business.

"It's no fuss! Did you want to have anyone over? Any girls...?"

Light sighed. "Mom... I just want to concentrate on the exams…"

Light paused when for a moment it seemed like his mother was staring right at Ryuk. But then she blinked and shook her head as if to clear it. Light breathed a sigh of relief. False alarm. It was surely just a coincidence…

"Uh... whatever you guys want to do... I'm gonna go study in my room now." Light quickly excused himself up the stairs…

"Okay!" Sayu smiled sweetly. Ryuk cackled. He didn't know what this birthday-thing was but even he understood that Light probably shouldn't have left the planning up to his mother and little sister.

"Of course, dear," Sachiko sighed. She knew that what Light really wanted she couldn't give him. Her son said he understood—that his dad was out catching the bad guys. But Sachiko noticed he didn't even bother to ask this time if his father could come home.

It broke her heart.

 

***

Light shut and locked his bedroom door, sagging against it in relief, a sly smile creeping across his face as he made his way over to his desk "I already have everything I need."

The teen sat at his desk, carefully retrieving his notebook from the booby trapped desk drawer. As an afterthought Light reached into his bookbag and tossed Ryuk an apple. Behind him the Shinigami dove for it gleefully with outstretched claws. Ryuk savored it. He was so glad that the cameras and bugs were finally out of Light's room. Apples tasted so much better when eaten inside the house and it was getting really boring not being able to even talk to Light.

Meanwhile Light just sat at his desk, notebook in hand, just staring at it, and began giggling insanely. This notebook was the tool of a God. He was a God. This L had nothing on him, no leads and now the police must have been forced to end the surveillance. All Light had to do was be patient. He'd discover L's identity soon enough and once he'd gotten rid of L nothing would stand in his way. _NOTHING!_

Ryuk backed away slowly—more than a bit nervous. When Light was in one of his moods he seemed positively _diabolical._ The Shinigami had never seen a human become so corrupted before-all the while thinking he was on the side of the angels-it was thoroughly entertaining.

Ryuk cleared his throat. **"So, Light?"** the Shinigami dared to interrupt the teen's mad musings. **"What is this birthday business?"**

Light's mad smile disappeared, replaced with a contemptuous scowl. Ryuk reflected on how Light's mood swings were becoming more extreme of late. Maybe his human had finally dived all the way off the deep end. That would be disappointing. Ryuk enjoyed Light's calculating madness but gibbering madness wasn't nearly as interesting.

Light sighed but patiently explained to his simple-minded companion. "It's a human ritual, kind of like Christmas, only everyone gives you stuff you don't really want or need and you have to eat cake." Light shuddered at the thought. After all, perfection took a lot of effort. He didn't want to squander his efforts just for the sake of such momentary pleasures. The consequences would be dire.

Ryuk pondered on what Light had said and how that sounded like fun... so why was Light so against it? Light had wordlessly turned back to his desk and resumed scratching down names in the notebook.

**"Well if you don't want anything… why not ask her for apples? Or how about the advance XP you were too cheap to get me for Christmas?"**

Light paused in his writings to glare at the Shinigami.

"It's _my_ birthday, not yours."

 **"But you just said you didn't want anything!"** Ryuk whined.

"It's the principle of the thing!"

 **"But… I want one! I want a birthday!"** Ryuk said sadly.

Light massaged his temples in frustration. "Well, when were you born?"

 **"Born?"** the monster looked puzzled. **"Shinigami just… are."** Ryuk continued to mope pitifully.

Light sighed "If it means that much to you, then... how about we pick an arbitrary date, like say, the day I met you and next year we can celebrate your birthday then."

 **"R-Really?"** The Shinigami asked excitedly.

"Yeah, we'll stick a candle in an apple tart or something and... let's see that falls on a Saturday... we can go out for the day. I'll take you somewhere." Someplace where people wouldn't see floating apple tarts...

 **"I liked Spaceland,"** Ryuk began hopefully. They could have a special day, just the two of them with no Yuri chick getting in the way this time...

"Hmmm. There's also Yamaguchi Orchard," Light suggested.

 **"What's that?"**

"It's an apple orchard." It was cheaper, with fewer witness, and Light had a feeling Ryuk would appreciate it more... The Shinigami did indeed look pleased, his fangy maw widened in delight.

**"They have… apples there?"**

Light sighed again; massaging his forehead and the bridge of his nose in classic 'I'm surrounded by frickin' morons' pose. "Yes, Ryuk, they have apples there. They _grow_ apples there." Light made a face as the monster drooled all over his bedsheets before again focusing his attention on writing names in the notebook.

 **"I have to wait a whole year?"** The Shinigami moaned as realization struck.

Light's smirk was hidden by the angle as he leaned over his desk to work. Now there was more incentive for Ryuk to keep him alive for another year at least...

Light penned a few more names down before putting the notebook away for the evening. It couldn't hurt to take a moment to actually study for those entrance exams.

 

***

**Present**

Ryuk was rolling on the floor laughing. The kid, master planner that he was, had forgotten his own birthday! The look of horror that flashed across his face when so many people leapt up from behind the sofa shouting _"SURPRISE"_ was absolutely priceless. He had pressed himself up against the wall like a cornered animal, his heart hammering in his chest. Too funny! It looked like Ryuk had to make sure to remind Light about _his_ "birthday" over the next few months... Repeatedly.


	4. A Party To This

Aw shit! This was a nightmare! Yes, this was _exactly_ what he needed when he could turn into a monster at any moment! From the looks of it Sayu had invited half his school! If they discovered his problem... But he was seeing no polite way to make them all leave. Well maybe if he set the house on fire... before he could finish that thought Sayu got out A LIST and began reading off the itinerary of what they were going to be doing on Light's birthday looking far more enthusiastic than her brother. Light dutifully faked a smile but if anyone cared to look his eyes betrayed that he found all of this about as fun as having a root canal. Light was immediately regretting leaving the planning entirely in the hands of his fourteen year old sister...

"Hurry up and eat your breakfast, sleepyhead," Sayu grinned, pointing out how Light had for once slept in and they let him do so. "When you're done eating, we're gonna go out and see [Generic Date Movie] 2 and then we'll go get lunch out, then we'll go to the arcade, and then we'll come back here and play party games, and then we'll have cake, and then you can open your presents, and then we'll play more party games and then we'll have dinner and then..."

Light listened with mounting horror, praying that Sayu hadn't made this into a slumber party too. ( _'And then we'll have MAKEOVERS! And I'll paint your nails pink and we'll play spin the bottle and...'_ )

Sayu announced "and we'll go out to a Hideki Ryuuga concert!"

Light perked up. Okay maybe that last one wasn't so bad. Maybe he'd get to see...

"So get started! You're keeping everyone waiting!" Sayu shouted enthusiastically, nearly pushing her brother face-first into his cereal bowl.

As the others dispersed to enjoy the snack trays Sachiko provided Light's oldest friends Yamamoto and Ryou approached him while he was eating his breakfast.

"Hey Light, you okay?"

Light paused in his eating to greet them. "Yeah... what's up?"

"Well it's just..."

"It's your birthday and you seem too excited about it."

"Oh... it's just I haven't had my coffee yet..." Light explained.

"Oh I know why he's down," Yamamoto announced. "It's because he's become a _SERIAL KILLER!_ "

Light nearly choked on his corn flakes. _"WHAT?"_

Ryou funneled a newspaper up into a fake megaphone and shouted "DROP THE SPOON AND STEP AWAY FROM THE BOWL!"

Yamamoto pointed at Light's cornflakes as if he were speaking to a complete retard. "A Cereal Killer. Get it?"

"Oh. Ha ha! Good one." Light forced an awkward laugh. He was sure his sweat glands were going on overdrive and no doubt if Ryuk were human he would have died laughing by now.

"Hey, don't worry man. We won't tell Kira," Yamamoto promised.

Just then Sachiko came up behind them and with pulled the protesting boys away by the ears.

"Boys, let him eat his breakfast in peace before you start harassing him."

_Before?_

***

Once they arrived at the movie theater the catfighting commenced almost immediately over who got to sit next to Light (and here the who got to ride with him fight had been bad enough!) Why did Sayu have to invite all these girls from his school? Was she hoping to start some real life drama? Well Mission Accomplished. The exams had been a convenient excuse for his not dating any of them but now that the exams were over (and Sayu had suggested none too subtly that her brother was available) Light was left searching for a place to hide. It was disgraceful, _ridiculous_ , the way these girls were throwing themselves at him. Couldn't they find a nice straight boy to bother?

Light, as diplomatically as possible, requested to sit with Yamamoto and Ryou. Alas it seemed that they had caught whatever weirdness had affected Ryuk this morning as they were suddenly just as bad about respecting personal boundaries...

As expected the movie was the boring formulaic drivel that middle-aged men thought teenage girls liked to watch. As Light sat there (considering punishing the entire production team for making this atrocious crime against humanity) Yamamoto yawned and stretched so that his arm fell across Light's shoulders. Light's eyes narrowed (and unbeknownst to him began glowing a dim red in the dark of the movie theater) as he felt Yamamoto's hand progressively moving south. Light leaned back in his chair trapping his movements before he could put it down the back of his pants. Alas, this just gave Ryou easier access to pretend to fall asleep in his lap.

What was WRONG with everyone lately? Yeah, he knew he was hot and all but seriously where was it written that he must be molested by everyone he came in contact with? Yamamoto seemed to interpret Light's move as encouraging as he began stroking in small circles along Light's back. Light was becoming distinctly uncomfortable as he was held hostage by his childhood friends. It's not like he wanted to do anything with Mr. Sorry-Light-I-Only-Give-Cards-To-Girls anyway (that ship had sailed!) Yamamoto certainly didn't when he was in his right mind—he made that abundantly clear. Meaning it was him, whatever this demony-thingy was, that was causing this… Light sweat-dropped again. The longer the party went on the probability that he'd get gang-banged before the day was over was rapidly approaching one... Light experimentally lit up a couple little sparks of flame. Ryou and Yamamoto yelped and broke away.

"Ow! Fucking static!" Light hissed at the same time as he put out the fire. Ryou and Yamamoto seemed to accept the explanation and at least they had the good grace to look sheepish.

***

Lunch presented more such awkwardness. Light hadn't taken two steps through the door before someone was trying to grab his ass. Light was getting very irritated about the whole thing. Wasn't it obvious he wasn't interested, would never be interested, and found dating his classmates about as interesting as watching cement dry? Well, he supposed he should be grateful it wasn't so obvious and that people were morons. (After all it made ruling over them as God a feasible goal.) Only his mother seemed to sense Light's discomfort and suggested they eat at home instead. No sooner had they returned to the Yagami household then Sayu announced it was _"PRESENTS TIME!"_

Light dutifully opened the gifts. His mother got him a new sweater, and an Advance XP (the silver one). Light felt a vein popping in his forehead. Ryuk must have dropped a hint (and made it look like his handwriting.) Light could only hope that said hint wasn't on Death Note paper.

Another gift was a gift basket filled with apple-scented bodywash and lotion. Since the apples kept disappearing around him his family had come to the conclusion he loved apples. Light purposefully avoided eye contact with Ryuk—those had to go in the trash A.S.A.P. before his newly lecherous Shinigami-turned-stalker got any ideas. ( _Too late_ ).

Light quirked his eyebrow when he unrolled the poster his sister had gotten him. A Hideki Ryuuga poster. Now was this a case of Sayu getting him what _she_ wanted or... Sayu winked at him. Then did Sayu know he was a fan as well? (And if it _was_ the same Ryuuga how he might just have just as much of a crush on the idol as she did?) Because he sure as hell didn't tell her!

His father had sent along a gift (that was actually for his graduation since he had forgotten about his birthday) but Light accepted it just the same. It was a very nice watch. Especially with how easy it would be to modify the casing on the back... It would be very useful in the future.

Ryou got him the latest _Assassin's Creed_ game and Yamamoto got him a Magneto action figure. Now from previous birthdays he had the whole set. Light had to keep from rolling his eyes. Just because Yamamoto was an _X-men_ otaku didn't mean they all were. He had just turned eighteen! Weren't they a bit old to be playing with toys? Still he didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings so he accepted it with a smile. Since the cheap plastic supervillain had actual magnets in it Light placed it far away from the electronics on the table... in the empty chair usually reserved for Souichiro that they all knew would remain empty as the Chief would continue working. Only Light knew that, in a way, he did have his father's attention this year—and while being the prime suspect in a mass murder case wasn't exactly the type of attention he wanted from his father, beggars can't be choosers.

Cake was next. Light didn't really care for sweets but his mother seemed to think he liked chocolate cake since he always requested it—because Sayu liked chocolate cake. The others all marveled that he managed to blow out all eighteen candles in one try. (Unbeknownst to them he had a bit of help from a Shinigami flapping his wings...)

"Oh! What did you wish for?" asked Yamamoto.

"Stupid! If he tells it won't come true!" his sister scolded.

"Was it for a car?" asked one of his classmates.

"Or maybe a hot new girlfriend?"

Light was struck with the sudden epiphany that these people that he lived with his family, his friends—they really didn't know him at all. He supposed that was fortunate, but still...

"I wished for world peace," Light replied in a grave tone.

"Wha—Seriously?"

"You're no fun," Sayu pouted. "And now it won't come true! Dummy!"

Only Light could hear the Shinigami snickering in the background.

"Yes it will," Light insisted, eyes shining with idealism and determination "because we'll make it happen! It will take more than wishing to make it true. We all need to do our part! I can count on you, right guys?"

Yamamoto rolled his eyes. "You're such a dork."

Light gave them a winning, fake smile accompanied by an equally fake laugh, the one he specifically reserved for these awkward social situations. They never could tell the difference.

***

Light managed to weasel his way out of playing a game of Twister (whoever invented that game was _EVIL!_ ) by claiming to be not feeling too well and sat out on the living room chair (the couch was too much of an invitation... not that it stopped some girls he didn't know the names of from draping themselves all over him) watching, with growing horror as his "friends" kept getting more and more possessive of him as the day wore on.

"Light is _my_ bestest friend!"

"No way, Light is _my_ bestest friend!"

"My gift was cooler, right Light?"

The hours passed.

Yamamoto finally seemed to notice that Light was the only one not having any fun… It all began as a totally misguided attempted to cheer him up…

"You know what we need to liven up this party? Drinks!"

That snapped Light out of his funk. " _NO!_ Just... that's _illegal!_ "

"Aw, lighten up, Light! It's not every day you turn 18!" Yamamoto's year of studying abroad must have left him confused. Eighteen was not the legal drinking age in Japan-to partake in this would be a _crime!_

Light crossed his arms across his chest and scowled. "No I will not have booze at my party."

"There is no booze; it's wine! We're fucking sophisticated here!"

"Language!" Light hissed. His little sister was in the room for fuck's sake!

"Hey, it's not like dad will ever know..."

"Sayu!" Light was utterly scandalized by his sister wanting to partake in this.

That clinched it. There was _no_ way… it was a crime. Criminal. _EVIL._ It was hardly the sort of crime he typically judged but still it was the principle of the thing. He couldn't become less than perfect! Light lunged at Yamamoto and they struggled over the bottle. Light managed to wrest it away with such force that the bottle hit the wall and turned to glass shards, cutting the palm of his hand to the bone. In shock, Light slipped and fell backwards, banging his head against the wall.

There was a disconnect and for a moment everything else ceased to exist but the blood pouring down onto the shards of glass that now littered the floor catching the reflection of the rising moon as it shone through the window-a reflection that shifted and turned red when his blood mixed with the white wine as if in silent offering to Hecate. The red fountain turned to black...


	5. In The Blood

"What is going on in here?" Sachiko demanded and pushed her way through her son's concerned admirers to see for herself what was wrong... And then all that mattered was her son was hurt.

Light blinked slowly as he became aware of his mother tugging him away. How embarrassing.

What just happened? What went wrong? Did he slip up somehow? Would he have to kill them all because of it? _Could_ he kill them? His closest family and friends? Light thought he was prepared to sacrifice anything… but Sayu? _His mother?_ No... no need to worry about it. She knew nothing. They all knew nothing. There was no sense getting wound up over nothing... And why was it so hard to connect his thoughts at the moment? Wasn't he just at a party...? The room seemed to swim around him as he dully watched as the blackened blood poured out of his hand as if it was happening to someone else... It felt no more real than watching something on TV. How did that happen? Well he supposed it was only natural after all he had sacrificed for the good of the world that he should develop _stigmata._ A mad giggle bubbled up from his throat at the thought of it.

His mother glanced at her son with growing concern as she took him into the bathroom and retrieved the first aid kit to clean the blackened wound. Throughout the day she had watched the other kids' behavior towards her son with growing concern. And now this... this confirmed her worst fears. They both watched as the wound closed, healing on its own.

"Oh Light. I was afraid of this."

Light came out of his fugue moment to his mother brushing his bangs aside to shine a light in his eye (very _red_ eyes. _Demon_ eyes).

"Mom? What is it?"

His mother was silent and continued caring for her son. Her son who was so smart and handsome, a son any mother could be proud of, her little angel...

Tears welled up in Sachiko's eyes.

Her silence was more damning than any scolding words could ever be.

"Mom? What is it? What's wrong?" Light demanded and was met with more stony silence. Quite frankly it was scaring him. "It was just a little cut. I'm fine!"

His mother wordlessly handed him a hand mirror and Light discovered, to his horror, that his eyes were glowing red again.

 _Oh shit!_ Would he have to...?

 **"Oh! Oh! Is there is there a Baiziin for that?"** Ryuk cut in before he could finish that thought.

Way to ruin his dramatic moment! Maybe parking the Shinigami in front of the television all day wasn't such a good idea... In any case eye drops weren't going to cut it...

Light quickly analyzed the situation. The way his mother was acting was... strange. True she seemed freaked but she didn't seem too surprised to see this... almost like she was... _expecting this?_

"Light..." his mother began gravely, "there's something I need to tell you." Yes, she would tell him and afterwards—depending on his answers—Sachiko knew she would have to make an impossible choice... whether or not to kill her only son in his sleep or risk letting him live... "You can't tell anyone. Not even your father."

"What is it?" Light asked; his curiosity piqued. Could it really be that his _mom_ had the answers to what was happening to him?

_"Promise me!"_

"...Alright."

His mother sat down on the edge of the bathtub. She looked conflicted on how to begin. She finally settled on. "Have you noticed any... changes lately?"

"No... not really," Light lied easily. "Why?"

Ryuk chuckled **"Aw, aren't you gonna tell her about the wings?"**

"Are you seeing anyone? Any girls...? Is there anyone you really like?"

"Mom!" As if the sex talk wasn't awkward enough when his father tried to give it!

"Light, this is important! There's a condition that runs in my family. It is absolutely _vital_ that you are honest with me! It is a matter of life and death! Have you yourself experienced an increase in libido?"

Light was sure his face must have matched his eyes as his mother kept talking. But what could this _condition_ possibly be? In truth his mother's words were beginning to scare him; Sachiko had Light worried enough that he might have a rare form of cancer or something that he did answer (relatively) honestly.

"...Yes... Mom, what sort of... _condition_ is this?"

"It varies from individual to individual. Light... I saw those girls were all over you today. How did you feel about that?"

The urge to bury his face in his hands was strong. "Uncomfortable. They were heavy."

"Light if you don't take this seriously..."

"I am being serious! I didn't really like it but I didn't want to be rude."

"Is there any one girl you particularly like?"

"No... not really... I.. I'm..." _gay._ "I just want to focus on studying right now!" Light insisted hurriedly.

Sachiko looked relieved but then something else seemed to occur to her.

"Light... do you hate women?"

 _What?_ "No!"

"Have you had any... dark urges? Wanted to hurt them. Wanted to... rape them?"

"No! Of course not! I would _NEVER_ —! Jeez, mom what sort of _condition_ is this?"

"I'm so sorry Light!" Light startled as his mother embraced him in a bear hug and broke down crying. Light looked uncomfortable. He had never much liked physical contact, even from his family.

"This is all my fault!"

"Mom, calm down! H-hey... It'll be okay! Whatever this is... it's not your fault, okay?"

"It is. My family... _I_ have demon blood in my veins!"

"Wha—?... Demon? That's— _that's crazy!_ "

Ryuk sniggered. **"…And the Academy Award for Best Acting goes to…"**

"I know it's hard to believe, son, but it's true. Please listen." Sachiko sat down next to him and began to tell him the story. "Light... your great- great great-grandmother was a child of rape, no one ever knew by who but the family always held it was a demon… and I believe them. I've always feared the blood ran strong in you but it's so far removed I didn't think it was possible..." Sachiko then removed contact lenses from her eyes revealing that her eyes were not actually brown but bright and red, just like Light's.

 **"Woah!"** Ryuk exclaimed, startled; his reaction totally antithetical to Light's stoical expression.

"Other than the eyes the curse hasn't affected me at all."

"A curse? What _kind_ of..." Then it clicked as he remembered his mother's prior line of questioning. "Wait... so... You think I'm going to turn into some sort of _rapist?_ "

"And killer," his mother finished bluntly, tears flowed freely now.

**"Awk-ward~…"**

_Shut up, Ryuk!_ "I'm not like that! I'll never be that! Mom, I'm better than that!" Light insisted.

 **"Hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk hyuk!"**

Yes, he did what he must for the sake of the perfect world. He was well aware of the hypocrisy. That was his sacrifice. But he would never _RAPE_ anyone! That was just _SICK!_

"I know. You're a good boy, Light. We'll take care of this. Whatever else you may be you're still my son." As Sachiko hugged her son to her again she felt around and found the same pressure point that Ryuk had found earlier. Light's demonic traits—the wings, horns, and tail, snapped out on their own accord. Light didn't have to work too hard on his 'shocked and horrified' act as he pretended to be seeing them for the first time.

His mother gasped. She knew that the blood ran stronger in the males of the family but _this,_ this was... "Impossible. You… you're a _full blood!_ "

"Wait what does that _mean?_ "

No matter how good or kind her son was, without a doubt he would have the urge... he would rape, he would kill... "Light... I'm so sorry!"

Sachiko's mother had warned her about this. By all rights she should have killed Light before he got a chance to become a killer and to keep him from spreading his genes. But if he was a full blood... then she couldn't kill him even if it got to the point where she _had_ to... There was no stopping him. He wouldn't die. There were ways of controlling a full blood... but to actually use them _on her own son?_

Light winced as he saw his mother in tears yet again. "Mom... This isn't your fault, alright? Please, stop apologizing. Whatever this is, I can handle it. We'll get through this, okay?"

Sachiko nodded. "Yes. We'll hide it. I love you son but you need to get out of this house, for your sister's sake..."

That was just what Light wanted to do anyway however...

 _"I'd NEVER hurt Sayu!"_ Light was beyond insulted that his mother would think he would ever willingly harm his little sister.

"It's just a precaution, son."

Light sighed. "I understand..."

His mother then surprised him by pulled back a panel in the medicine cabinet revealing a hidden compartment in the wall that he never guessed was there. Light was impressed. He never really considered it before but perhaps he inherited his genius from his mother? But then why did she settle for such a simple life of cooking and cleaning?

From the secret compartment Sachiko retrieved a couple of items—a small box and a bottle of pills. The box contained brown color contact lenses the pills were incredibly heavy antipsychotics—with the main side-effects being "fatigue and a decrease in sexual drive."

The pills—that explained so much! His mother was always on the pills! Why else would she _have_ the pills? Perhaps she had the "curse" worse than she let on... That would explain why his mother seemed tired all the time in between her manic bursts of cooking and cleaning, how she got exhausted so easily... Light had read about this type of antipsychotic. Its use was very controversial because for the patient taking it, it became a challenge to even function at all. That his mother was able to look after them and his father didn't suspect a thing... She played the role of a completely normal housewife. He must have gotten his acting talents from his mother too.

"Please, Light. Take the pills so you don't hurt people. _Please._ "

Light had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He of all people didn't need antipsychotics! After all he only ever killed responsibly. If he didn't he would, as Ryuk suggested, just go on a killing spree and go insane. He wasn't like that. _He wasn't..._

Light sighed but pretended to take the offered pill for his mother's sake (cheeking it to spit out later.) His mother ruffled his hair (messing it up so it stuck up just like his horns.) "You're a good boy, Light. The best advice I can offer you is to stay celibate but if you do _ALWAYS_ use protection, be discreet and... and try to find someone who deserves it: criminals, whores, someone who will not be missed."

 _Wait, what?_ "Mom! I'm fine. I don't need to..." Light rapidly protested that he would ever take such an action, speaking around the pill which began to taste bitter in his mouth. Ryuk's annoying snickering ground to a halt as he gaped openly at both mother and son before he began cackling louder than ever before **"Oh! Oh! So _interesting!_ She's just like— You're just like—"**

If Light allowed such a show of emotion he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. Even if his mother didn't _know_ she _understood_. His mother shared his ideals. Would he have to kill her because of it? Sachiko hugged her son, sobbing. _He's such a good boy... but he's a full blood. It's only a matter of time..._


	6. A Journey of Self Discovery

There was just barely enough room to turn around in but all told it was _very spacey_ for a cheap apartment. The room came with two iron-framed Western-style beds that were bolted into the floor. Light tested the mattress slab by flopping down on it and found it to be as hard as a rock—he imagined it was not unlike those of a prisoner's barracks (and quickly banished that uncomfortable thought.) Well you get what you pay for and if the bed was too uncomfortable his mother had also packed him a futon. On the plus side the room also had a balcony with a view of the Tokyo cityscape. That was nice; he could overlook his kingdom from there. It also had a private shower—that last part had been the selling factor when they decided to take it. It was all but necessary with his… _condition._

However there was a reason why the apartment was so cheap—it was a definite fixer-upper and in this part of town he was no doubt living right next door to gangsters and prostitutes and the building was, without a doubt, owned by a faction of the Yakuza. (Kira clearly needed to focus more on organized crime… and if all went well he might not even have to pay rent this month.) The room would be even cheaper and seem even smaller once someone answered the ad his mother put in the paper. In order to afford the apartment he'd have to share it with a roommate. (Of course there were plenty of ways he could make money off his powers but Light refused to go down that rout—to compromise the very ideals he stood for just to make a little cash. From the very beginning he had decided he would only use the Notebook to make the world a better place.)

Having a roommate might be a bit problematic in the future but he was prepared—especially once he'd worked a few minor details out… Light was hoping to get a female roommate. There would be less temptation that way (at least as far as he was concerned.) Yes, the ideal roommate would be a girl with no sexual interest in him… a lesbian then; a girl that never bothered him or gave him a second glance. Also she would be studious and quiet, tidy, never play loud or annoying music, and never go through his stuff. Such a roommate might even _survive_ being his roommate. Hmm, perhaps he should write an ad of his own… In any case Light knew he had to gain perfect mastery of his new powers (and _urges_ ) before someone answered the ad his mother wrote...

"I don't know about this..." Light began for his mother's sake, playing the role of the soon-to-be college freshman striking out on his own.

"You'll be fine son. Just remember that college is a journey of self-discovery!" Sachiko announced brightly for the sake of their audience.

The landlord gave them an odd look before leaving. He probably thought Sachiko was a bad mother for letting her son live in this squalor but Sachiko knew Light could take care of himself. Light was a full-blooded immortal demon. She almost pitied any poor criminal who would try to rob the place... Though she didn't tell Light this in so many words—she didn't want her son developing some sort of complex or thinking he was superior to the rest of humanity just because he had inherited a little bit of power.

Light had mixed feelings about all of this. On the one hand this was exactly what he wanted. Now that he had his own apartment he would have more freedom to act as Kira. But still, he wished it was won under better circumstances. it felt like he was being kicked out of the house—as if he'd _EVER_ hurt his sister! Even when acting under a so-called "curse." But Light was sure his mother would keep his secret (especially when she saw that this "curse" hadn't affected him in the slightest and that no woman was in danger from his condition ( _men_ on the other hand...)

"Just remember you need to be careful!" His mother insisted as she helped him unpack. "Especially with Kira out there! I don't know if Kira can kill our kind or not but you can never be too careful. Also be careful of other demons. I can see them sometimes... I catch glimpses... and I think one might be following you."

Light nearly dropped the box he was moving. His mother saw Ryuk? Light forced himself to remain calm and not react visibly to that disturbing new piece of information.

No, it would be alright.

His mother was very helpful and she would keep his secrets. (And she knew nothing about the _IMPORTANT_ secret.) She was no threat to him. He wouldn't have to kill her... At least that's what Light assured himself.

"You'll be alright," his mother insisted again as she hugged him good-bye. "I have every confidence in you. I love you, son." she said and "Remember to call."

And then she left him alone.

Light wondered what his dad would think about all this. It was mere hours after his mother had "the talk" with him and his father was still at work. They hadn't even asked his opinion before moving out of the house. It was simply pack and go, much to his sister's confusion...

Light sighed and surveyed his new apartment (it was definitely a fixer-upper) and went through a mental checklist of his priorities. Light kept his Notebook hidden within the lining of his jacket during the move but he'd have to find a new hiding place for it soon—there was his future roommate to consider as well and also his apartment wasn't real secure (Light broke the lock twice already without even trying because he kept forgetting his own strength.)The last thing he wanted was the source of Kira's power falling into the hands of a criminal. He had an idea of where he might hide it but he'd have to try that later. Step one was look normal. Looking normal was important. He couldn't have anyone suspecting he might be Kira... or a demon for that matter.

Dammit, this "curse" was terribly inconvenient! But his mother was right. He could handle it. He just had to be so much more careful in the future and allow no one else to suspect he was anything other than a perfectly normal college freshman... Light decided that that meant he needed to get his space tidy as soon as possible. Okay, so maybe that wasn't exactly normal for a college student but it was a matter of personal pride that he kept his living space neat and orderly and it was most unfitting for the God of the New World to sleep in this rat's nest as is. Light got out a bucket of soap and water and with epic strokes began scrubbing the floors and walls. Getting to work also helped distract his overactive imagination from wandering to thoughts of a certain dark-haired man that he might, admittedly, be becoming a teensy bit obsessed with. Perhaps… one day, when the world accepted Kira maybe he could arrange a meeting with this Ryuuga—just the two of them. Ryuuga of course would be in awe of meeting his God and would meet his any request… Such as stripping off all of his clothes and kneeling before his throne...

Light gritted his teeth and angrily scrubbed at the floor.

 _Stupid._ Such a move would only be putting the man in danger! He really needed to get over this unhealthy obsession and focus on his mission and on making his new apartment livable. After finishing his side, since he couldn't stand to leave the job half-finished he cleaned his future roommate's side of the room too as he became aware of just how filthy the floor really was. Ew. A shower was _definitely_ in order after he finished in here (and after he cleaned the bathroom too... _Uck!_ )

That's right, he was Kira and if he could make the world a better place then turning this little hellhole into paradise should be child's play...

 **"Man, I'm getting tired just watching you,"** Ryuk grumbled as Light worked tirelessly. With the promise of apples, Light had the Shinigami checking for cameras (just to be safe) and when he found none, Light put him to work filling up the embarrassing cracks and holes in the wall with grout.

Light realized belatedly that his stamina seemed to have greatly improved since he woke up a demon this morning. Perhaps this wasn't such a "curse" after all. Maybe now he could stay up later and write more names… And he recalled how he had cut his hand earlier and it had _healed._ Did that mean he was... _invincible_ now, a true _GOD?_ Or was that healing power taken out of his lifespan or something? Cells have only a set number of divisions so unless this "Curse" changed his entire biological makeup he shouldn't get too carried away. Just because he might have some new abilities didn't mean he should be any less careful or take to using his body as a meatshield. He still had a lot of work to do on creating his ideal world… and on reassembling his bookcase. Light swore as his hold slipped and he bashed his thumb with the hammer. For a moment his thumb turned purple and bruised before swiftly returning to normal. Well that answered that question—he did indeed have a healing power. (Light wondered if that meant he had suddenly become more accident prone.)

"This is no curse! This means I've made it, Ryuk! _**I AM A GOD!**_ " Light announced gleefully.

Ryuk cackled, ecstatic at Light's proclamation. This was so interesting! Just like when they first met… Now that the shock of Light's transformation had worn off a bit he came to realize Light was still _his_ Light; dangerous to everyone else but not to _him_. Not really. Ryuk was sure he could hold his own against the young demon and Light would always want _someone_ to brag to. Now he would never have to go back to that dull Shinigami world. He could hang out here where things were so much more colorful, and watch Light's fascinating scheming, and play Mario Kart.

 **"I wonder if that's what it's like? Having a little brother?"** Ryuk mused aloud.

"What's that Ryuk?"

 **"Us. We're like… brothers, right? I mean since you're a demon, I don't have to kill you now and Shinigami and demons are like distant kin. So we're _almost_ the same species…"**

Light's eyes narrowed and became cold and calculating as Ryuk began invading his space again. He knocked Ryuk's hovering claws away before they fell upon his person.

"If we're 'like brothers' then that means you should stop coming onto me."

Ryuk looked crestfallen. Was he really that transparent?

Light brushed past him and flopped down onto his newly made bed; his shirt hiked up a bit revealing a tantalizing glimpse of the creamy skin underneath. Ryuk let loose a growl. Surely Light knew damned well how sexy that was? The bastard was _flaunting_ it!

"Hey, Ryuk... "

 **"Yeah…?"**

Maybe, just maybe, Light wasn't aware of how amazing he looked and what it was doing to him. Yeah... OR he was just being a manipulative little bastard. Knowing Light it was probably the latter.

Light smirked coyly at the Shinigami. "What do you know about demons?"

 ** _Oh that's your game, is it?_ "Well there are many different kinds of demons. Each has a different purpose, a different role. Naturally the Shinigami's role is death but you're obviously a different type of demon. You have a different role..."** The Shinigami trailed off, watching the rise and fall of the young demon's chest.

"...And?" Light prompted.

 **"Uh… I'm thinking…"** Ryuk's grin stretched wider. **"I… don't know. I think I need to see your wings and everything again. You know, to properly uh… classify you…"**

"You're memory is so bad you can't even remember a few hours ago?"

**"Er…Yeah…"**

Light sighed in exasperation as he unbuttoned his shirt. Ryuk's ploy was obvious but he'd play along for now. There were things about his "condition" that his mother didn't know or wouldn't tell him and he needed to know... and anything Ryuk could tell him would be more reliable than the contradictory accounts of the supernatural he had paged through since discovering it actually existed...

Ryuk watched in fascination as Light stood, shirtless before the mirror. Light's face clenched up in slight discomfort as he unfurled his crimson wings. Ryuk advanced and Light lit up another fireball.

"Don't touch me," Light said in warning.

Ryuk threw up his hands in a placating gesture and hovered at what he considered to be a "respectable" distance away and "studied" Light. The former human was clearly in an _excited_ state. Perhaps reverting to his true form caused him to become more excitable?

Ryuk's eyes bore into Light's back as he pretended to be studying his wings.

Hey if you leave the apple out lying around it's asking to be eaten, right?

 **"Hmmm... I'm sure I've seen this somewhere before..."** Ryuk began as a pretext to creep closer.

Light sighed. "You really have no idea, do you?"

 **"Well... we know it's the kind of demon that goes around raping humans. That should say something."** Ryuk supplied helpfully.

Light glared at his reflection. Disgusting! The very thing he was trying to eliminate from this world!

"Whatever this condition might be I can assure you I won't be _raping_ anyone!"

**"Hyuk. You _know,_ I can help you with that..."**

" _That_ is definitely out of the question!" Light muttered, answering automatically as he was once again mesmerized by his reflection. He was disgusted and fascinated by the physical changes that were wrought upon his body when he transformed. With both hands he again traced the curve of his horns. "What the hell do I even need _horns_ for anyway?" Light grumbled aloud.

Ryuk smirked. All that flesh, unguarded... Light yelped in outrage as Ryuk grabbed at his chest from behind. **"I think they're something for your dom to hold onto,"** Ryuk panted into his ear. **"They'd be perfect for bending you backwards and fucking you damn hard..."**

"Enough!" Light violently pushed the monster away, his cheeks burning. "I warned you not to touch me!" Damn. Light was flaming again, in every sense of that word. His eyes were gleaming crimson as he snarled "You defied me. I will _**punish you.**_ "For extra effect, Light's voice dropped a couple of octaves for those last two words...

 _ **Oh shi—**_ Ryuk scurried away, dodging fireballs and made his escape through the wall. He made a note to wait until Light cooled down a bit before trying again…

Light stopped, swore, and extinguished the fires he started before he burned down the apartment. After he was sure the Shinigami was gone and wouldn't be coming back for a while he quickly made use of the Ryuk-free time to take his shower.

***

Ryuk (still slightly singed from his previous attempt at flirting) kept well away from the enraged demon, perching on the balcony, and merely watching with interest as Light ripped a number of pages out of the Death Note and then sealed it inside a plastic box, and then the box went into his bookbag. Usually Light would tell him his plans in great detail but apparently they still weren't on speaking terms. When Light saw he was there he only gave him an angry glare.

**"What? You asked!"**

"I never _asked_ you to molest me!"

 **"About the horns!"** Ryuk attempted to defend himself.

"It was a rhetorical question!" Light snarled. "And really, do you think I'd _ever_ be the passive one?" Light scoffed.

Ryuk was about to say yes (after all he had on occasion caught Light fingering himself and when Light finally did agree to have sex with him he sure as hell wasn't going to be the one on the bottom...) but he bit his tongue not wanting to sabotage his (nonexistent) chances of getting into Light's pants.

While he was out Light had apparently taken his shower and changed into a pair of tight blue jeans, his new demon tail lewdly spilling out over the rim of his pants. Ryuk was surprised that Light was still wandering around shirtless after that earlier fiasco. Maybe he should interpret that as an invitation... _**uh oh.**_ Light had caught Ryuk staring and was looking hostile again. Not eager to have his feathers set on fire _again_ Ryuk quickly remembered something that might appease the demon.

 **"Oh! Oh! Light? I think I've figured out what kind of demon you are!"**

"Really?" Light prompted skeptically.

Ryuk noticed Light was lighting a flame in his palm again so he spoke quickly.

 **"You're a… what do you call it Suca—Succubus? Wait no, that's the girl-demon… ink? Yeah, that's it… you're an incubus!"**

***

A Gentle search later and Light was beginning to understand why his mother wanted him out of the house. This _was_ dangerous.

"An Incubus. Seriously? As in the demons that goes around impregnating sleeping nuns? Jeez, would you listen to this, Ryuk. Apparently in Medieval England it was preferable to be raped by a demon than the idea that woman had consensual sex."

 **"Yep!"** Ryuk agreed with some certainty. Light looked at the Shinigami askance.

"Do you speak from experience, Ryuk?"

Ryuk had indeed witnessed those centuries first-hand. However, **"Hey, I don't go around sleeping with humans! That's forbidden! Rule 36. A Shinigami cannot have sex with a human or with other Shinigami."**

Light threw up his hands in frustration. "Then why do you keep hitting on me?"

 **"You're not human. Really, can you blame me? You're very sexy."**

Light sighed. "Lucky me."

**"Yep!"**

"Wait, if you're forbidden from sleeping with humans and other Shinigami then have you ever done it...? Wait, you know what? Never mind. Don't answer that. _DON'T!_ I do _not_ want to know."

Light read some more of the article he had discovered on his "condition":

_'Incubi and succubae are very beautiful and sexually appealing inciting lust in everyone around them...'_

The way people were acting towards him at school; at his party... it made so much more sense now. He had that effect on everyone... _EVERYONE._ That was... problematic. He would need to stay as secluded as possible. He could take the majority of his courses online. That would probably be the safest thing to do. However he could also use this to his advantage. He could just flutter his eyelashes and make anyone tell him their true name... Light leaned back in his chair feeling very good about himself. When he abruptly returned to concern number one...

"If I have this effect on everyone, all the time... Does this mean _you_ are going to keep pestering me as long as we're—?"

**"So you see, you might as well sleep with me and get it over with. I promise you'll like it… _Ow!_ "**

Ryuk peeled himself off the floor, his face swollen from where Light punched him.

Light went back to ignoring him and kept reading "According to this 'Incubi and Succubae feed through sex, draining the victim's lifeforce like some kind of... _sex vampire_ frequently killing his or her victim in the process. Even those that survive the first encounter will become weak or ill and eventually succumb to death as once such a demon has claimed a human he or she will never let their victim go.' _Shit!_ "

Sex wasn't high on Light's list of priorities (or at least that was true before these... bizarre alterations started playing havoc with his body and mind) but it was still mentally scarring to know he could never hope to have sex with anyone without _killing_ them.

Light had hoped to meet his Raven again; even if it was an impossible dream. (He _lived_ for impossible dreams…) But this? This just made it all that much more _difficult_ because now even if he met Ryuuga again nothing could ever happen between them. The last thing he wanted to do was kill a man he lov—

 _Wait, what? No. No no no!_ He had never been so _sentimental!_ He didn't even _know_ the guy! And he was... _swooning like a lovesick schoolgirl?_ Fuck that! He was a _guy!_ And these... ( ugh!) _feelings_ were based on what? A curiosity? A fantasy? An obsession? How could he have such strong feelings for a man he didn't even know?

_'Once such a demon has claimed a human he or she will never let them go...'_

Dammit! Were these feelings a product of the "curse" too? This had to stop. It had to stop now! He had to put the stranger out of his mind...

However Light saw one silver-lining to learning he was a dangerous… _sex bomb._ "Do you know what this means, Ryuk?"

 **"Huh?"**

"It means you need to _STOP_ hitting on me!"

 **"Aw Light-o, I didn't know you cared!"** Ryuk's grin widened as he informed the teen. **"But that won't work on me."**

"How can you be sure? I mean just look at this article. I am _very_ dangerous. It would suck out your lifeforce..."

**"It won't work on me for the same reason you can't kill me by writing my name in the Death Note, I'm immune to that kind of magic. So… I guess that means I am the only guy you know that you could uh… _screw around with_ now without consequence…"**

Well shit. That backfired miserably. "Well how _nice_ for _you..._ "

**"You sound very frustrated. Maybe we should…?"**

"No."

**"But I didn't even…"**

"Good."


	7. Gods and Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning this chapter contains mature content.

**Two Months later**

L Lawliet didn't particularly like public speaking, especially when having to do it _in person._ However it would have been worth it to get a rise out of Kira. However there was one slight problem...

"I have just been informed that Light Yagami has fallen ill," An important looking guy in a suit informed the student body. "Let's all wish him a speedy recovery. Please welcome the other top scorer, Hideki Ryuuga!"

 _Crap._ L had no speech prepared seeing as he was planning on just copying and mocking Light's. Not that he cared in the least what the students thought about him but he did not like all those eyes staring at him. After a petrifying moment of complete terror L cleared his throat and made up some bullshit on the spot. Not that any of them were really paying attention to his speech anyway as they were too busy focusing on the "mad genius scholarship student's" hair and clothes and asking loudly and disgustedly "Is this the model we're supposed to aspire to?"

Oh _yes,_ those kids were obviously _shining examples of humanity_ being so very polite and respectable to the person asked to speak to them. So tolerant of anyone different that didn't fit into a narrowly defined model of what was "proper." Their parents must be proud— _really_ —seeing as they were little carbon copies of them. No original thoughts here! Just play nice and be part of the herd and ridicule anyone who _isn't_ lest they see your own faults. It wouldn't matter to them if "Hideki Ryuuga" had an I.Q. bigger than all of theirs combined. In fact that was just another source of ridicule. All that mattered to them was that he was "other," a "freak," not like them... bad... _evil._

After "Hideki Ryuuga" quickly finished his impromptu speech he shuffled off the stage alone and then made a break for the door. No Kira, no reason to stay here with these whispering idiots. However it hadn't been a complete waste of time. Meeting Light's peers had leant some insight—the way the students all categorized people into little boxes of what was proper and improper, normal and deviant, good and bad—and knowing Kira, genius student Light Yagami (L was fairly certain they were one and the same), was fostered in this environment... It by no means excused what Kira was doing but it did go far to understanding Kira's mentality—which was very childish indeed. They were all little monsters, just waiting for the right opportunity to commit a crime.

Watari was there waiting for him outside with the Roll's. As they drove away L pondered on how it was very out of character for Light Yagami "the golden boy" to miss his own entrance ceremony. If he was scheduled to be there—he'd be there. That's how it should have gone! _Where the hell are you, Light Yagami?_

***

The young man surveyed the area for potential targets. He knew he was sick—that he had a problem—but he just couldn't stop, he didn't want to and no one could make him...

***

"More... _Please!_ " The young man whimpered in ecstasy as the other pounded into his virgin ass. He never imagined he would enjoy himself so much on the bottom. At the back of his mind he felt that there was something very wrong—how he gave into the other man with no resistance—it was like the very scent of the other male had intoxicated him and was impeding his higher brain functions. However at the moment he felt so amazing he couldn't bring himself to care.

"You... can't _handle_ anymore!" The other man snarled derisively but nevertheless his fingertips bit bruisingly into the other's hips as he thrust in harder and deeper. The bottom moaned deeply in response, his sweat plastering his long black hair against his pale skin. Kaede's mother once told him his father was probably a Westerner—a frequent customer of her's. (Kaede hadn't particularly wanted to know so his mother was the first to die.)

Kaede had a need; there was something hollow inside that he could only fill with little boys. But he was clever, he had a system, and no one would ever find the bodies. That's how he found his partner. He had just been out stalking another schoolboy when the teen had appeared before him and turned his world upside down. The teen would have usually been too old for his tastes but there was just something about him—an innocence; a _naïvete_ that made him seem younger. Even when dressed in a sophisticated, flashy dark suit it only gave the impression that he was just a boy playing dress-up in his father's closet. The young man had paused when he noticed Kaede's staring, tilted his head and flashed him a coy smile, his dark shades sliding down the bridge of his nose to reveal a bit of those beautiful, crimson eyes. Kaede had become entranced; absolutely mesmerized by the look in those eyes, and by the graceful movements of the teen. At that moment he had to have him. He would do _anything._ He would follow him barefoot into Hell.

There was nothing soft or romantic about their encounter. A few whispered words found them together in a hotel room. As soon as the door closed they had been at each other like two feral beasts fighting over the same slab of meat. That had surprised him. The teen looked like a twink! He was younger and smaller and he smiled so sweetly. Kaede had gone in assuming he would be soft and submissive but it was a trap. His pretty face hid a very dominating personality.

After wrestling a bit Kaede was taken by surprise as the innocent-looking teen was slender but _strong, stronger than him_ and had quickly overpowered him. Kaede worked out regularly—it was important to stay physically fit. He had learned the hard way in the early days of his... hobby. When you put someone's life on the line even a weak child could display an amazing amount of strength when cornered. Kaede had nearly lost his right eye to a troublesome boy named Yori who had somehow managed to find a jagged piece of broken beer bottle in the abandoned building where he had kept him prisoner. After his face had healed Kaede had taken his time with that one. But Yori had left his mark—to this day the scar remained.

Kaede's surprise must have shown in his dark brown eyes as the other man laughed sadistically at his expense. He had just decided he would do the same to this selfish teen for his presumption as he had done to Yori but then... something changed. He couldn't explain it. He leaned in close breathing in the teen's heavy musk and then all he wanted was to just let the other man make him feel good. The teen looked _Godly._ Kaede told him so and his partner had smirked knowingly as he took his sweet time, marking and claiming him with soft kisses and gentle bites as if he was practicing for a part in a romance play. To Kaede's shame it took next to nothing to get him begging. When the other man demanded he get on all fours, _right now_ in a deep, lusty voice Kaede had rushed to obey.

The damn selfish child— _it hurt!_ Kaede couldn't help it. He had screamed in pain when the teen had mounted him from behind. As tears welled up in his eyes the other had soothed him with practiced ( _practicing_ ) touches before moving again.

Driven by some instinct the other man easily found that bundle of nerves and quickly overrode the pain. Then he was amazing, simply _divine._ The best fucking sex Kaede ever had. He had been planning on killing the brunette when this was over but this was just so damn _good._ Damn. Would that mean he had to pay him? Kaede assumed he was some kind of male prostitute.

But what was the price?

His lover... no that was a misnomer—what they were doing wasn't anywhere close to love as far as he understood it. His _fucker_ was terrifying. His every movement was so very controlled. Even now as they rode the waves towards the climax Kaede could tell he was holding back, maintaining perfect control. The bastard. Kaede wanted to make him lose it too. But it seemed no matter what he tried the teen remained controlled, almost... detached and kept going at the same pleasantly torturous pace. When Kaede was about to come his dominant clamped down on the base of his manhood preventing him from coming before he was through with him.

If Kaede was capable of thought at the moment he would be wondering if the other man was even human as he pushed them through a marathon like a _fucking machine,_ going so long and hard that Kaede was sure his fucking balls would explode if he didn't...

The brunette finally granted Kaede release as the rubber inflated inside him. Kaede struggled to remain conscious, he could barely move and could only watch in awe and horror as the teen withdrew and with seemingly boundless energy had leapt from the bed and immediately began getting dressed to leave.

"Wait, where the fuck are you going?"

"Out." the teen finally deigned to answer him.

"Wh-why?"

"I have things to do," he said blandly.

"Wait, what do I owe you?" Kaede grasped around searching for his wallet, desperately trying to stall the teen from going out that door because _that_ seemed so final.

The teen wore a look of distaste. That was obviously not the right question.

"No need. Thank you. You have been _**very helpful,**_ " said the teen. His tone carried an extra meaning to his words _'you are of no importance.'_

"When can I see you again?" Kaede hated how pathetic he sounded but he just couldn't stand it! He desperately wanted the teen to stay.

There was no need to say anything really, that _look_ alone conveyed the message _'You're an idiot.'_ "You won't."

"Why not? Was it me? Because I promise can do better!" the man pleaded.

Light scowled, he hated when they got clingy. Kaede was met with stony silence as the other man adjusted his tie.

"It meant nothing to you?"

Light rolled his eyes. "Get over yourself."

"You think you can just fuck me and leave?" Kaede shrieked. This wasn't like him. Kaede was usually a go-getter. He never took "no" for an answer. In fact he usually didn't even ask permission. But for some reason it was like he could do nothing else, like his answers were already scripted in some book of fate and he was naught but a marionette with this boy pulling his strings. This made Kaede even angrier.

 _How unbecoming._ The teen nonchalantly checked his watch. "Yes. I have a life... Unlike you."

The man's face which moments ago had been flushed with passion was now was red with impotent rage.

"If it makes you feel any better I'll always remember your name, Kaede Nikoyama."

Kaede froze. Not only had he never given the other man his name he hadn't used that name for years. He had cut a deal—his records were sealed in exchange for his testimony...

"Who are you?" Kaede demanded. When he got no response, in a flurry, he retrieved his pistol from where he kept it hidden under his pillow. The teen remained unconcerned as Kaede flashed the gun in his face.

"Do you really want to shoot me, Kaede?" the stranger, the _fucker_ asked; a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. Kaede really, really did but he just couldn't find the will to pull the trigger.

The gun fell out of his shaking hand onto the bedsheets.

 _"Please,"_ Kaede begged pathetically. "Please can't I just have your number?"

The younger man just chuckled sadistically.

"You bastard! You _owe_ me! At least tell me your name!"

"My name..."

The teen glanced down at his watch again. "Hmmm... I suppose some call me... _Kira._ "

For a moment Kaede thought his heart had stopped.

The boy laughed again and this time it looked absolutely _demonic._ Kaede had no doubt it _was_ Kira. He trembled, terrified against the headboard. Kira was here. Kira knew his name. _Kira_ fucked him and now surely Kira would kill him for his crimes.

"...But _you_ can call me _God._ "

Kaede was still processing that Kira, the Vengeful God, was here in his hotel room... in human shape! Was he really a God? If he shot Kira would he bleed? But when he threatened him Kira didn't seem the least bit concerned.

Kaede would never know.

The gun still lay next to him on the bedsheets but as Kaede was petrified in terror it might as well be miles away.

"Why?" Kaede choked out. Surely Kira didn't give all his victims such a _personal_ touch.

"You know that was the way it was _supposed_ to be—do you think your victims had such a _nice time?_ "

It was a cruel, cruel God that offered a glimpse of heaven before being cast down.

Kira chuckled again as he walked out that door with nary a glance; lingering only to put his cool shades back on before leaving the room.

"Farewell, Kaede Nikoyama."

As Light sauntered down the hallway of the hotel the echoing sound of a gunshot brought a smile to his face.

 **"Wait, you didn't drain him?"** Ryuk asked in confusion as Light left the hotel.

Light gave the Shinigami an annoyed look. "Didn't you see what I wrote in the Death Note?"

In truth Ryuk had stopped reading over Light's shoulders after the first time Light had used the notebook in his Incubus power-testing experiments. The level of _detail_ Light had put into it had left the Shinigami blushing. Ryuk had never seen the Death Note used _that_ way before.

"It was just an experiment to see if I have learned enough about my powers to have sex without draining my partner."

 **"And...?"** Ryuk didn't want to know... but... he did. The Shinigami made a face as Light retrieved a baggy from his coat pocket that held the used condom. He disposed of it in a dumpster several blocks away.

That one was riskier than the others. When he drained his victims of lifeforce they would just dissolve to dust leaving no physical trace behind. But Light wasn't too concerned. This death would clearly be a suicide and no one would ever link it to Kira.

"There was one slight... _complication_... but my subject was so out of it he seemed to forget about it afterwards. In any case, I think it's safe to say I have mastered my powers."

**"What do you mean by a complication? And he was out of it? What; was it really _boring_ or something?"**

Light rolled his eyes. Ryuk was just jealous that he wasn't sleeping with him.

Light sighed. "I already told you! During sex I'm secreting something that makes my prey... er... I mean _the subject_ compliant and um... needy. They'll let me do whatever I want."

**"Oh?"**

"Maybe with further tests I can extract it, study it, maybe I could even weaponize it. It could come in handy if I'm ever in a tight spot..."

**"Hyuk hyuk. Yes, you've been getting into a lot of _tight spots_ lately."**

Light looked miffed at Ryuk's observation. _How juvenile. It's not like I'm enjoying this... much._


	8. Trash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I OWN NOTHING! 
> 
> Disclaimer: Warning—disturbing content depicting anatomically impossible sex and violence. Viewer discretion advised.

**Two Months Ago**

Light had extensively tested his powers. He had greater strength (he could lift a car above his head if he ever felt the need) and heightened senses (useful for eavesdropping. Not so useful when the neighbor is playing loud music at three in the morning. You can't just report the neighbor's mysterious accident too soon either, after you've controlled him to turn the music off, or it would be too suspicious. You have to wait until the rot sets in and is permeating the walls—which assaults your heightened sense of smell—to control another neighbor to find the body and call the police and then have that neighbor die in an accident twenty three days later—overall it's a huge hassle).

Light found he could seduce and enthrall a human to his needs, and after a few false starts (which would never be mentioned again under pain of severe apple deprivation) Light had learned to fly… and it was a good thing he could heal too. One time Ryuk had attempted to "help" Light during these practice sessions in the hopes of getting something for his troubles—catching him as he fell and attempting to carry him off bridal style—he should have known better. A humiliated Light isn't a grateful Light—far from it. Ryuk ended up dropping Light when he literally became too hot to handle.

To his credit Light's vow that he would never feed on anyone lasted an entire week.

Ryuk was there for the breaking point. The Shinigami had just returned from a quick flight around the neighborhood to find Light huddled in the corner of the shower under a steady stream of freezing water, the droplets turning to steam just before coming into contact with his burning skin. Light would later relate it had felt like his own fire was consuming him. His eyes were wild and upon seeing Ryuk let out an animalistic screech and began, quite literally, climbing the walls. Ryuk cackled. It seemed for all his denial the demon had needs after all. Ryuk had approached him then—he could see it in his eyes—Light had nearly let him have his way. But alas at the last moment he had regained his senses and Ryuk had been forced to flee, black and bleeding, the claw marks Light left behind just missed putting out an eye. Ryuk cursed Light's downright _inhuman_ stubbornness. He almost had him! Ryuk sulked as he listened outside the bathroom door as Light finished up in the shower.

Through sheer force of will Light somehow managed to get himself under some semblance of control or at least to the point that he wasn't burning everything in his path but the problem was in no way gone. He could feel the heat simmering just beneath the surface. There was no denying it—he needed to "feed." Light needed to feed but he didn't want to hurt an innocent. That of course left criminals—or as Light put it "rotten, evil bastards who totally deserved it"—and not just any criminals but the worst of the worst should receive this "special punishment." Of course that meant having sex with criminals, which was absolutely disgusting, but Light still found it to be less objectionable than Ryuk's idea. Hell, _any_ alternative was better than Ryuk's idea.

***

His first time was with a serial murderer-rapist named Tatsuya Kosanage. Light had naturally turned to his old friend the Death Note to make sure it would all go smoothly. Light simply had to wait patiently (dodging glances of several other interested parties) until Tatsuya entered the restaurant and caught notice of him—that didn't take long at all.

Tatsuya Kosanage was a tall man with dark eyes and messy black hair. He wore black leather, which brought his sickly complexion into sharp relief. He was missing his left ring finger. That's because serial rape, mutilation, and murder was only a hobby for Tatsuya. His day job was working for those very nice people known as the Yakuza. Of all the criminals that warranted the "special punishment" he wasn't totally objectionable, well at least he looked a bit sexy... That's why Light picked him. But Light knew him to be rotten to the core. That was _also_ why he picked him. Under normal circumstances he would _never_ have considered having sex with this sleazebag. Light somehow managed to avoid dry heaving as he went along with the charade, putting his acting talents to good use so that all Tatsuya would see would be a "meek, shy school boy" and not the one who would be his death. Light had worn a trashy-looking black sweat suit for the occasion so that 1) It was less likely he would be recognized by anyone he knew and 2) Tatsuya would buy into his story about being a poor orphan who won't be missed. Light kept the hoodie up and his shoulders slumped to help project the helpless "don't hit me" look he was trying to convey. True the black hoodie might have been a bit gloomy and ominous but he pitched his grey one after killing Raye Penber.

They exchanged words and soon Tatsuya was grabbing his wrist and dragging the "naïve school boy" to his kill site, an abandoned hotel, intending to make him victim number fifty, wholly unaware that his intended victim had a kill count of his own… that effortlessly dwarfed Tatsuya's. The murderer became annoyed when his victim failed to scream or show much of any reaction even when Tatsuya produced his knife and held it against his throat to show he wasn't fucking around. Even when Tatsuya brought him to his lair which was decorated with pieces of dead bodies everywhere the boy showed no reaction beyond a sudden sharp intake of breath.

 _Really? Here?_ Light thought disgustedly as the sickly stench of old blood and rot assaulted him. Well what was he expecting when he propositioned a serial killer? A romantic affair? A candle-lit dinner and soothing music? Still this was a bit much. Light began to laugh brokenly.

Enraged, Tatsuya struck him across the face, knocking off the kid's dorky-looking sunglasses. Rage flashed over the boy's features but still there was no trace of the fear that Tatsuya was expecting, that he _needed_. Instead the boy smiled sadistically. Tatsuya froze, paralyzed like a rabbit that had locked eyes with a snake—they looked like the eyes of a snake, red and seemingly illuminated with their own light. Tatsuya couldn't move—the knife clattered uselessly from his hand. Light had written in the Death Note that Tatsuya Kosanage would "obey the man with the red eyes." Tatsuya didn't know what was happening—but he did know he was fucked. Self-aware but unable to control his actions as his "victim" turned the tables on him.

"Tatsuya Kosanage. Take off all your clothes and against the wall, please" the boy/monster ordered in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Tatsuya rushed to obey. He stripped naked, the black leather garments pooling on the floor around him, and braced himself awkwardly against the wall, his ass hanging out in obvious invitation. Light shuddered; he couldn't hold himself back much longer. Light quickly shed out of his clothes and approached the other man. With mild fascination Light traced along the elaborate Yakuza tattoo etched into the skin of Tatsuya's back. It was literally layers upon layers of art, a mix of Eastern and Western designs and every time you looked at it another image would leap out like one of those Magic Eye puzzles. There was a black dragon coupling with a ferocious looking tiger both of which were curling around a long sword that pierced through a stylized bloody heart. Entwined in the design was a phrase in Latin.

"To the victor go the spoils," Light translated aloud. "You know, I must agree." Light gloated over his foe. Tatsuya opened his mouth to tell the teen how dead he was but he couldn't speak. Light had carefully stipulated in the conditions leading up to death that Tatsuya couldn't shout for help… or backtalk to him.

Light paused only to get out a rubber (there were no telling what diseases this vermin might be carrying) before the incubus took what he had needed for so long and roughly entered the man from behind, not bothering to prepare him first—Light had already discovered his demon body produced some kind of natural lubricant. Besides he could care less if he hurt the son of a bitch. Tatsuya's body contorted in a silent scream. Light worked to sooth him before moving again, planting little kisses down the skin of his back. Again, not that he cared. His kisses were venomous and held a hint of fangs. Light had no feelings for this man other than hatred and contempt. This was just a practice run, an experiment, a game—but Light played to win and he wanted to do it right. Even so he was admittedly awkward and rough about it. Tatsuya didn't seem to mind though, as he let out a muffled moan even as Light ripped him apart. Light frowned. It wasn't exactly his intention to give this asshole any pleasure. He consoled himself with the fact that Tatsuya would be dead before the night was through… Light found it helped to imagine that he was with someone else—he roughly grabbed the man's tangled raven hair as he concentrated on his own pleasure. As Light came close he lost control and reverted to his true form, his crimson wings snapping out of his back, the horns erupting out of his head. The changes were painful and he took it out on Tatsuya's ass. As he braced against the wall Tatsuya couldn't see what was going on but as Light's tail constricted around his hips, if he could he no doubt would have shrieked in terror but because he was controlled by the power of the notebook Tatsuya's scream was silent. Light used the tail to pull the other man back closer, to drive harder and deeper. The man's skin blistered as it moved against Light's already scorching skin. No doubt Tatsuya would have screamed if he could as he was set alight both inside and out.

Tatsuya's face was contorted in a horrified, silent scream as he was ripped apart and burned alive. Ryuk pondered he must have been able to _feel_ his lifeforce draining away. Tatsuya's bloody broken fingernails lodged into the concrete walls as the man had tried desperately to escape his fate. Ryuk had watched how the man's numbers drained to zero and Tatsuya dissolved to dust.

Ryuk had watched… and he never wanted to see it again. He had then agreed to from then on respect Light's privacy and leave the room whenever he did stuff like that. He had even stopped hitting on Light for a little while afterwards. True, Light couldn't hurt _him_ like that but still Ryuk had found it disturbing when the man Light had been fucking just _dissolved_. Perhaps it had been disturbing for Light too. Ryuk had watched wordlessly as Light put out the fire and then braced himself against the concrete wall to throw up. Light shivered and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before stoically reaching for his bookbag. He still had to wipe down the scene with the industrial grade bleach before he could return to his apartment.

***  
Ryuk wondered if he was imagining things—he could have sworn he heard a choked sob coming from the bathroom. What the hell was that about? Disgust? _Remorse?_ More "Hunger" pangs? Or perhaps "feeding" just gave him indigestion? Light had seemed rather shocked when the man he was fucking _dissolved…_ just like that. And for all his talk and for all the hundreds he put to death daily… it's not like he was very experienced with death firsthand. And for that matter… Ryuk knew it was Light's first time feeding but was that his _first time?_ He didn't seem very interested in sex before all this...

When Light had emerged from the shower he seemed his normal self… Well, normal for Light. Ryuk didn't think Light was anything like what humans would consider 'normal' and was probably what humans called 'crazy'… but that was entertaining nonetheless.

Light offered no explanation for the sounds that Ryuk may or may not have heard and Ryuk didn't ask. The Shinigami simply looked away.

A few hours later Ryuk was getting concerned as Light still seemed kind of listless. Not even his daily dose of serial murder cheered him up. Writing in the notebook usually had Light laughing in sadistic glee but not today. The whole ordeal must have gotten to him worse than he thought.

Ryuk went up to where Light was slumped in his office chair and poked him. **"Hey, Light!"** the Shinigami began enthusiastically.

Light glared at the Shinigami in the universal nonverbal sign of _"I don't want to deal with your shit right now."_ Light sighed. "What is it, Ryuk?" Light asked resigned and a bit brokenly.

**"Want to play some video games?"**

Ryuk wondered why that idea didn't cheer Light up. It always cheered _him_ up.

After an awkward silence Light spoke, hollowly; "I wrote that Tatsuya Kosanage would die from having sex with an incubus." He shuddered. Tatsuya had gone out with a smile before he dissolved to dust. It was never his intention to give that asshole any pleasure. "That that wasn't impossible meant that you were right. I am a… a…"

 **"An Incubus?"** Ryuk's grin widened.

Light frowned. He _wasn't_ a demon. _He wasn't._ Alright technically he was; but he was not overly fond of that label. He felt it didn't accurately describe who he was. He wasn't a demon in the same way he wasn't a murderer. He had naturally surpassed such quaint little categories to become God. Light knew it was his destiny to find the notebook and now that he discovered that this was his birthright—he was _The Chosen One_. To Light in his… _alternate_ state of mind that was the most obvious thing in the world.

Tatsuya was naturally just the beginning. True to his word Light had never "raped" anyone. They always wanted to sleep with him. If they made assumptions about how that would work well… that was their problem. And while that whole business with Tatsuya was traumatizing Light simply chose to look at it as a valuable learning experience—in time he would learn how to have sex without setting his partner on fire. From his experiments Light discovered he could go without feeding for an entire lunar cycle and male or female Light could have anyone falling for his charms—that was nothing new. Light didn't really bother with the girls other than regular cover dates to keep up appearances. It wasn't a _complete_ waste of time—Light continued to practice being "the perfect gentleman" as well as the art of escape when the girls didn't want him to leave and became insistent about it. Light had yet to figure out how to "turn off" his seduction power or if that was even possible— _everyone_ was attracted to him, _EVERYONE,_ whether he wanted them to be or not. Light did not take the decision to become a shut-in lightly. But come to think of it, it was only natural he should stand above and apart from the rest of humanity. He was God of this New World. So be it, this was his sacrifice.

***  
**Present**

"Any new leads, Ryuuzaki?" the Chief asked as he walked in the door.

L rapidly closed the other window on his laptop as he heard someone enter his hotel room. It was just an interesting little side oddity he had been investigating—a sting of disappearances in the Tokyo area.

It began when Daiki Kosanage the _Oyabun_ of the _Kuro Ryuu_ , the Black Dragons Gang, contacted him or rather "Eraldo Coil" to inquire into his son's disappearance, and willing to pay the net worth of a small country to get him back. From questioning Daiki and his own research L learned that Tatsuya Kosanage was a mafia hitman so it wasn't like he couldn't defend himself. Perhaps Kira killed him and he was rotting in a back alley somewhere? In any case it was unlikely that he was still alive but "Eraldo Coil" promised to look into it and L did when there was a lull in the Kira Case and he discovered that Tatsuya was just the first of many victims. So far almost all of them had been of Caucasian descent and had dark hair. At first L thought it might be a hate crime. But then more data came in and it turned out that all of the missing persons had something else in common—they were all pedophiles, rapists, or serial killers—this was confirmed thanks to an anonymous tipster that kept feeding the police information on where to find the trophy rooms. L was 95% certain that the anonymous caller was behind the disappearances. (Now if he could just listen in when this individual called… he could trace the location, even if he used a voice filter there was a chance L would be able to unscramble it, and to talk to this individual—he could learn so much more about their personality. L had surmised much already—the perpetrator thought he was untouchable and it was highly likely there was a police connection seeing how he knew how to so thoroughly erase his presence from the scene—any samples they might find were too degraded to use. Whoever did this—he was good.

That had piqued L's curiosity more than the promise of money. Not only were the victims criminals (and this tipster went out of his way to point that out) but that they disappeared without a trace. Though the M.O. didn't match the ideology behind it appeared to be the same as his current case…

_Perhaps a copycat? Or has Kira simply expanded his bag of tricks?_

If it _was_ Kira… perhaps he would get sloppy and leave some physical evidence behind...

L had noticed when looking over the photos of the victim's discovered torture cellars in almost all of them there would be a large pile of dust and ashes somewhere in the room sometimes on a bed, sometimes on a slab or operating table, and sometimes on the floor. L consumed many gummy bears trying to decipher what the placement of the ashes might mean. If the criminals were dead as L suspected (98% certain) then the dust might be the bodies. Initial forensic analysis was inconclusive but the amount of dust left behind at each scene would be about the right volume to make up what was once a person. In any case at this point in time it was too early to draw any conclusions. It might be related to the Kira case or it might not but with no other findings he didn't want to share this with the other investigators unless he was absolutely sure.

"No," L answered the Chief's question with barely masked irritability. This other case was interesting but he really had to solve the Kira case first. That he hadn't solved it yet was wounding his reputation.

"Light was scheduled to give the acceptance speech" the detective complained as he stabbed idly at some pieces of honey-glazed ham piled atop his cantaloupe with a fine silver fork. It was Watari's attempt to get some vital nutrients into his ward's diet. L ate the mildly sweet meal very reluctantly.

"That's unlike him," the Chief awkwardly agreed. In all honesty he had forgotten about his son's school ceremony as he threw himself into his work; trying to catch Kira.

L hummed around his mouthful and didn't bothering to finish chewing before asking "Did you know he's taking all his courses online?"

The Chief looked uncomfortable. "I didn't... He moved out of the house."

L's fork clattered to the floor. "What?"

"You said he was no longer a suspect..." Mr. Yagami had seen no reason to tell the Taskforce about it. After all L had had the cameras and wiretaps removed. L had said that they had found nothing suspicious therefore his family was cleared…

"I said we could make no definite conclusions based on our surveillance." L sighed "When did he move out?"

"About two months ago." The Chief looked apologetic as he ran a hand over his graying hair. "There was no talking them out of it." He sighed. "My wife had a point. It's perfectly natural for a young man to want to spread his wings and leave the nest…"

"Yes… perfectly natural." L repeated in that odd tone he sometimes used that almost seemed… sarcastic. But of course the Great Detective L would never be that rude. It must just be a side effect of whatever… condition afflicted the reclusive genius.

Two months. It was two months with no leads. And while Ryuuzaki had seemed to be gearing up for something big he had kept the Taskforce out of the loop about it. Whatever it was, it seemed to have fallen flat so they were back at square one. And Ryuuzaki just crouched in that candy striped chair every day going through old data, rewatching and rewatching the surveillance from the subway where the F.B.I. agent was killed and the footage from his house—or more specifically footage of his son. Mr. Yagami was certain… no he _wanted to believe_ his son wasn't Kira. The sooner L cleared Light the sooner they could find the real Kira. The Chief looked very uncomfortable as he suggested: "But… he's still looking for a roommate."

L spun around in his chair.


	9. Roommates Are Not For Killing

Light sighed wistfully as he dutifully went about his task of filling another page with names—he had yet to find a roommate and the night before he had dreamed of _Him_ again. No one, especially not that _scum_ he fed upon could ever hope to match his dreams. (His Raven. His Hideki Ryuuga…) Light stared desolately at the page as he selflessly martyred his time for his cause, the world's spring cleaning—taking out the trash. Light was finding it was awfully lonely—being God.

"It's a shame about Mitsuko. Nice girl. I thought for sure that would have worked out…" Light said softly as he penned the death of another murderer.

 **"Yes. Tragic accident, that…"** Ryuk muttered distractedly; his attention focused solely on the screen filled with dinosaurs and mushrooms as he mashed at the controller. The damn buttons really were too small for the Shinigami's big claws.

Light glanced at Ryuk suspiciously. "I never told you how she died."

 **"Er…. uh… whoops."**

"Ryuk…" Light began in that tone of voice that Ryuk now recognized as the warning that he should be flying away as fast as he could to keep all his feathers.

 **"B-but if you get a roommate then we can't hang out and play Mario Kart anymore!"** the Shinigami whined.

"Do _NOT_ kill my roommates." Light again spoke in that soft-spoken, dangerous calm that promised endless pain and death in the immediate future.

 **"Or what?"** Ryuk challenged.

 _"What?"_ Light snarled, incensed that Ryuk would dare challenge his authority.

 **"It's not like you can kill me."**

"I'll think of something," Light began ominously. "I will torment you forever."

 **"Ooh, sounds scary~,"** Ryuk taunted.

"I-I'll set you on fire!"

 **"You do that anyway,"** Ryuk pointed out reasonably.

"I'll rip your wings off."

Ryuk shrugged. **"They grow back."**

"I will eat apples in front of you… and I will not share."

 **"Aw, c'mon! That's just _evil!_ "** Ryuk was horrorstruck.

"Don't think I won't do it! So don't kill my roommates!"

 **"Fine!"** the Shinigami growled and flew off in a huff.

Light had just resumed his regularly scheduled killing spree when there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be?"

He quickly disposed of the Death Note page he was using in a kitschy incense burner he had bought just for that purpose (an ash tray might have drawn questions should anyone he know stop by to visit since he didn't smoke) and turned off the game console Ryuk had been playing (damn Shinigami left it running again). The knock came again.

"Yeah, yeah, coming, just a sec!" It was probably the new landlord (the old one, also a Yakuza underboss had been _conveniently_ killed). Still Light quickly checked himself in the mirror to make sure he looked human and decent—if he knew he had company coming over he would have worn something nicer—he just had on his khaki pants and a lose white dress shirt he had left hanging open—but he was much too hot to care much about it. At least he had scrapped that half-formed notion to go natural he had had when he woke up sweltering that morning. Light naturally ran hotter than most people ( _human_ people) but to make things worse Tokyo had been hit by a record heat spell for the past week and of course the air was broken in his cheap apartment. After emerging from his morning shower ( _cold_ shower) the clothes seemed like branding irons. He had seriously considered going without them—he had no plans to go out today—it was _even hotter_ outside. But ultimately Light got dressed—it was important to stay disciplined. Besides a certain Shinigami might see it as an invitation and Light had just gotten the scorch marks off the walls from the last time they had such a difference of opinion.

Light crept the remaining distance to the door to peer through the peep hole to see a distorted, fish-eye image of…

 _It couldn't be…_

Light opened the door.

There he stood in his doorway; as if he had stepped right out of his dreams—the man with the raven hair. He was just as Light remembered him, wearing the same thing he wore during the testing: baggy jeans, (reluctantly) worn old tennis shoes, no socks… the only thing different was a black laptop bag was slung across his slumped shoulders, the black bag strap cutting a line across his wrinkled white sweater. He was slouching, his hands in his pockets, his tired eyes affecting a bored expression—that is until Light opened the door—then he gave a start like he had stepped on a livewire.

The raven openly stared at Light, gaping slack-jawed—no doubt he, like every other human on the planet, had got a whiff of the incubus's scent and now was rendered incapable of higher brain functions. (To Light's secret misery it made intelligent conversation even harder to come by.) Not that Light was doing much better at the moment. The raven was such a fixture in his nocturnal visitations that Light felt as if he already knew him. It was taking all of his self-restraint from tackling the other man and having his way with him right there in the doorway...

They just stood there, staring at each other as the awkward silence dragged on.

Light recovered first.

"Uh... hello?" Light coughed out. _Yeah **real** smooth._

"Hello. Light Yagami, correct? I heard you were looking for a roommate?" the man began with fake enthusiasm, almost as if it was scripted. Light paid that no mind (he was used to that too; people always acted weird around him) as he was too busy, caught in the abysmal depths of the other man's eyes.

Light seemed to recover himself. "You bet, come on in," he said excitedly.

***

This was a risky operation.

 _"If anything happens to pop idol Hideki Ryuuga, Light Yagami is Kira. If anything happens to me Light Yagami is Kira. If I die won't you arrest him please?"_ L had asked of the suspect's father and his colleagues. L was under no illusions—the odds were definitely stacked against him. But he could not afford to lose.

When the suspect answered the door L found himself feeling nervous. Well it would be natural for most people to be nervous in the presence of someone they were fairly certain was actually the most notorious killer in recent history but L wasn't like most people. He was trained to ignore such emotional impulses such as fear… no. this wasn't fear. Not really. It was something else. Some other feeling that he was largely unfamiliar with. L's mouth went dry as he eyed Light Yagami's sweat-drenched bared chest.

After a moment where it seemed his brain had frozen, L kick-started his massive mental processes to determine what and _why_ he was feeling this… and was more disturbed when he was able to pinpoint what it could possibly be. It was the kind of nervous he used to feel when Backup stared at him. But _that_ shouldn't be an issue. He had trained to ignore such impulses! No, he shouldn't be affected by his suspect's handsome face, or his graceful movements, or his melodic voice, or his come hither glances, or his intoxicating scent… No he shouldn't be affected at all…

"It's a pleasure to meet you." The Kira suspect looked him right in the eye and shook his hand enthusiastically, smiling all the way as he held his hand… just a little too long. L swallowed hard and for the first time in his life the detective struggled to stay focused. L didn't understand what was happening. Perhaps this was one of Kira's powers? L knew that Kira could control people's actions, perhaps he also had some ability to distract and confuse? L recalled that Light seemed to have this effect even when he was watching him on the surveillance cameras but it became so much more _magnified_ in person. L was glad for his baggy pants as he watched how Light moved, gracefully navigating through the cramped apartment. L wanted to believe that this was some power of Kira's and not a lapse in his discipline but surely that wasn't a move Kira would ever consider… well, no, it was safer to assume that Kira was capable of anything…. But he should be safe. Kira shouldn't be able to kill him without his name…

Just then Ryuk drifted in through the wall in time to see Light showing some new guy around their apartment.

_Dammit, he's getting a roommate... and the kind he'd fuck too!_

Ryuk let out a low growl that got Light's attention. His claws drifted towards the Death Note that hung on his belt.

"Don't even think about it." Light hissed.

But Ryuk paid him no mind, staring at the man's name that he saw floating above his head: _L Lawliet._

 _No way._ Ryuk chuckled. Now this, this was interesting! Frustrating but also interesting…

Dammit, now if he killed the interloper would it influence Light's lifespan?

Perhaps not, since Light was a demon but still it probably would be unwise besides (Ryuk gulped) Light was angry enough to threaten such a _horror_ for just offing some innocent girl that he didn't really care about—taking an action that would leave him cockblocked would undoubtedly be much worse and with the way he was looking at the so-called "Hideki Ryuuga." Ryuk decided it would be better to let Light have the room to himself for the time being… The Shinigami made an amusingly miffed sound as he flew off; finally realizing that his day would be long in coming… But on the plus side the Shinigami looked forward to watching the drama unfold and when Light realized his loverboy was L, Ryuk imagined that that would send Light running to him with open arms…

***

L whirled around, staring with comically intense focus at his suspect; who he heard mutter _something,_ seemingly to the empty air.

Light found himself growing hotter under the other man's probing stare. He cleared his throat and worked to ignore all of his basic instincts that were screaming that he drain him dry. This was his Raven! He was an innocent, not a criminal! Not a cheap fuck! If… no _when_ he had his Raven he wouldn't want to make it only be once!

"Did you say something?" L demanded more than asked. For a moment it seemed Light had been staring off into space… Well, naturally someone who had killed as many as Kira would be less than mentally sound… Maybe he had visual and auditory hallucinations? Or was there some supernatural _presence_ there in the room with them that only Kira could see? L _really_ hoped it was just the former…

"Ah, nothing…" Light dismissed the issue and changed the subject quickly "So what's your name?" he asked in a tone that was so sugary it could have been one of L's deserts.

Light was probably not conscious of the way he was fluttering his long eyelashes. L couldn't help but notice that Kira had very beautiful eyes. The dossiers said they were brown but when the light caught them _just_ so they seemed molten and shifting—the brown seemed to melt away into gold and as L gazed into them he could have sworn he saw a spark of red. L was so entranced by the spell that Light was weaving that he almost answered Light's question with 'L Lawliet.' Luckily he caught himself at the last moment. Still, L was sweating when he answered and not because of the heat.

"I'm Hideki Ryuuga."

***

It _was_ Ryuuga… _HERE_ and wanting to be his roommate!

 _There is a God on my side, and not just a God of Death._

Light had already determined he must be the pop star incognito without his make-up and the computer-generated effects. Light preferred this look on him-Ryuuga had a stunning wild grace and beauty about him. Light was a bit envious—it was a look he was sure he could never pull off. That his roommate was a teen idol might be a bit problematic but it was nothing the God of the New World couldn't handle.

Light swiftly ushered the Raven in and offered him a seat on the other bed (there wasn't enough room to do much else and standing nose to nose would be _far_ too tempting). Light sat on his bed, mindful of his company he fell back to projecting his (no doubt) tattered image of being a good student: back straight, legs crossed (to hide his growing problem) arms folded defensively across his chest as he watched the stranger crawl onto the adjacent bed, Light had kept it neat and made with fresh sheets everyday should this day ever come (that he found a roommate. He hadn't dared hope that his roommate would be…)

Ryuuga climbed up onto the other bed, sitting in an odd crouch staring at him with those cute glossy black eyes…Though Light would never admit it but he was a bit starstruck—though he didn't join in her squealing Light was just as much of a fan of Ryuuga as his sister. (Sayu would be so jealous!)

L continued to play along like everything was normal, that they were just two new roommates getting to know each other but something about Light's smile was making him nervous and as L crouched oddly on the bed, sure that his mannerisms would unnerve the suspect, he was further thrown when Light only smiled warmly at him.

L's paranoia rose when he considered why Light might be unsurprised by his mannerisms. He remembered seeing a look of recognition on his suspect's face when he opened the door. Light only saw him at the exam hall and _that_ would not have left a favorable impression…

L made a mental note to ask Watari to double-check and make sure that his "evil twin", Beyond Birthday, was where he was supposed to be—locked up in a maximum security prison in Los Angeles because if Kira was working with Beyond Birthday then his identity was compromised and he was utterly screwed… L calmed himself with the absolute certainty that _no one,_ (especially not his _defective_ Backup,) would be able to find Kira before he did…

"I'm a huge fan of your work." Light said conspiratorially, drawing in close.

L had to work to keep from trembling. Had Light somehow already figured out that he was L? L had intended to tell him that he was as a strategic move but if Kira had already somehow figured it out on his own that meant that Kira had the upper hand.

_Even if Kira doesn't know my name, if he already knows that I am L he might forgo using his usual killing method and have prearranged my gruesome murder by some more conventional means. That's what I would do if I were in his place._

Though even if Light tried to kill him using conventional means he was fully prepared to deal with it. And in the unlikely event that he died they'd have the evidence necessary to detain Light and from there his successors might finish the case. L didn't exactly _want_ to die for this case but he was fully prepared to do so in order to stop the evil that was Kira.

L was about to kick Light in the jaw and call in the team he had on standby to extract him when he realized Light was motioning to a poster on the wall—a Hideki Ryuuga poster.

_What?_


	10. The World's Smartest Idiots

L couldn't believe his ears. Light couldn't have mistaken him for _that_ Hideki Ryuuga, could he? He obviously _wasn't_ that Hideki Ryuuga, yet Light seemed to think he was... Was he playing him? _'I know your using an alias but I'm pretending to be an idiot'?_

How could anyone ever mistake him for _that_ Ryuuga! For that... that brainless Ken doll that was the butt of every Yuutoob™ comment!

"Wait, aren't you Light Yagami? Son of Chief Souichiro Yagami and the other top scorer at Touhou, correct?" L felt the sudden need to reaffirm that that was the genius he was battling. Perhaps he had been body-snatched?

"Yeah, that's me..." Light looked surprised and perhaps a bit suspicious. His name was on the advertisement for the room but he never gave out that much personal information.

L felt the need to justify his asking. "I missed you at the entrance ceremony."

Light swore he detected a note of accusation in Ryuuga's tone—could it be that Ryuuga was "not looking" for him too? Light rationalized that that was probably all it was about—Ryuuga the celebrity must have had him checked out to make sure he didn't belong to an international kidnapping ring or something. He needn't have worried. The way Light saw it there was no place safer in the world then at Kira's side. Light laughed good-naturedly. "Oh yeah, I was sick."

"Oh? That's too bad," the other man murmured, sounding anything but sorry.

"Yeah, don't I know it! I had the flu so bad I couldn't take two steps without tossing but I think I've recovered now. I'm really sorry I missed it. I had a kickass speech planned too," Light chatted rapidly, stealing furtive glances with the other man almost as if he was nervous about something.

 _You sure do talk a lot. What are you so nervous about?_ L adjusted the percentage accordingly. _Is it really you?_ It made sense logically but that Kira might ever be _nervous_ was almost too humanizing for comfort. L could hardly get a word in edgewise as Light continued to chatter at him in an overly-friendly way. If L didn't know better he would have thought the teen had been living in extreme isolation for a long time... L didn't even get a chance to feed him his cover story about being a foreign exchange student from the U.K. and Light, for some unfathomable reason still seemed to be under the mistaken impression he was Hideki Ryuuga the pop star.

"But enough about me;" Light said abruptly, "Is the room to your liking? It's not much but I've tried to keep it clean..."

L surveyed the room as Light continued to talk about rent and utilities (and Ryuuga surprised him by producing the money upfront). It looked like a typical college dorm room... save that it was immaculately tidy—everything was very neat and orderly, well except for one thing that caught the detective's attention and caused the corner of his mouth to quirk upward. From the way the controller was haphazardly put away L deduced that the top student in Japan had been playing video games right before L knocked on the door. L made another deduction as he glanced at the trashcan that neatly held a collection of cheap plastic takeout food trays.

"Does your family know you've become a Hikikomori?" L blurted out.

 _What?_ Light glared at the other man. "I am _not_ a hikikomori!" _How had Ryuuga come to that conclusion?_ He was very careful to _not_ look like a hikikomori. He just couldn't be around people too often or they would want to have sex with him. It was inevitable. He saw people as much as he dared and he even dated the idiot of the week to assure his father he was straight...

L watched fascinated at the subtle display of emotion that flashed across Light's face. He himself gave a rare smile at the thought that he could get such a rise out of him "No need to be so serious."

L watched again at the subtle inclinations of irritation and amusement and then Light was laughing good-naturedly at L's "joke" and L found himself wondering—perhaps Light wasn't Kira and was just a bored, lonely college student... Of course L didn't really believe that for a moment but for some strange reason, (probably related to the problem he was developing in his pants) he found that he really wanted to believe it...

L continued to watch and listen to his most fascinating suspect when, as planned L's cellphone rang as Watari called him.

"That was my grandfather," L told Light. "He's downstairs. He said he brought me a few things. My bags and a mini-fridge. I hope that's okay."

Light remembered that the elevator was out of service.

"That's a lot of stairs..." Light couldn't imagine an elderly gentleman trying to haul a _mini-fridge_ up some sixty flights of stairs. Well he _could_ and it wasn't pretty. It would result in a heart attack that would totally not be his fault this time...

"I know..." Ryuuga sighed dejectedly "But he gets upset when I try to help him. He's a veteran. He fought in WWII. It hurts his pride that his grandson is now stronger than he is."

"I'll go help him. You go ahead and get settled here."

"Thank you so much." L worked to put some feeling into those words.

Light just smiled at him and exited the room.

That worked out better than L had hoped. Things had been so much harder than it should have been for the detective. The apartment building was under management by a Yakuza controlled company, The Bloodfangs, a rival gang to the Black Dragons, the one that contacted "Deneuve." Someone in the Black Dragons had carelessly bragged that now that they had hired Deneuve they were sure to find Tatsuya Kosanage (naturally violating their confidentiality agreement). After that the Bloodfangs had done everything in their power to obstruct his investigation out of sheer spite.

Wedy was the best infiltrator that L knew but not even she could get past all the lookout thugs that were stationed strategically around the building. L was slightly amused by the irony that _Kira_ was living next door to so many criminals. (It would be more amusing if there weren't so many deaths.) L sent Aiber to smooth things over but with the constant changes in leadership (turn-over rates in mob management were typically high but even more so when Kira kept killing them) it was difficult for even L to discover _who_ to bribe. Aiber had finally managed to work out a deal that very morning. Now he just had to get Light to leave his room for an extended period of time later he could get Wedy to install the cameras until then he had just the ones in his laptop that would record a panoramic view of the room (L placed it so it sat innocuously on Light's desk.) Light helping Watari with the bags shouldn't take too long, so there wouldn't be enough time to install the cameras now but there was plenty of time for L to do a preliminary search of the room which he did as soon as Light was out of earshot.

L had noticed the pleasant smell of incense when he first entered the room. L peaked up at the kitschy incense burner. The ashes were still smoldering—Light must have only set them alight a few minutes ago... _in the middle of the day? On a day as hot as this?!_ It occurred to L that Light was probably disposing of evidence. The detective sifted through the ashes but failed to find anything of interest—only a burning shred of notebook paper. Nonetheless L pulled it out and studied it but could only conclude that either Light was burning blank pages of notebook paper or the relevant part had already burned away.

L scanned the room until his eyes lit on the desk drawer—Light left the key in the lock? That seemed very out of character for someone like Light. It was just too obvious … unless it was a double bluff…? Perhaps it was booby trapped? But would Kira really go so far as to keep something so dangerous in his room? Most likely— _his_ Kira didn't know any limits. Ready to spring away at the slightest inclination L carefully worked the drawer open with his toes and peered inside. All that was inside was a simple brown book—a diary. L's suspicions deepened. That seemed unlike the Light Yagami he knew to be that sentimental. L shamelessly thumbed through it but only found bland descriptions of what Light did every day and wondered: what's the point of keeping a diary if you don't use it to express your thoughts and feelings? Perhaps these entries might be some form of code?

_"L, do you know...?" But then maybe that's what Kira wants me to think. It's more likely the diary is just a decoy meaning..._

L focused on the drawer and deduced it was much too shallow. He pulled the drawer out and tipped it on its side. The fake bottom tilted up just a little bit. He could just see inside. A rare look of surprise and a light dusting of pink graced the detective's face as he realized he had just discovered where Kira kept his toys—and it appeared to be a vast assortment too: lotion, lube, leather collars and whips, gates of hell, fuzzy handcuffs, chains, vibrators, and several other devices that he didn't even recognize...

 _Kira is a pervert._ L thought as he began to imagine in vivid detail how such devices might be put to use.

_Does that make me a pervert too? No, of course not. I'm only making observations for the sake of the case. Yeah... keep telling yourself that. But what if the source of Kira's power _is_ a magic dildo or something? Light took this much effort to hide these... I can't afford not to look. There are too many lives riding on this... heh. Riding on this indeed. Focus!_

Just then L heard the door opening behind him and the sound of his minifridge being dropped on the ground.

 _Back already?_ L was sure he had more time! It should have taken Light at least thirty-three minutes to lug that fridge up the stairs!

"What the _FUCK_ are you doing?" Light shrieked. L turned around to see Light standing in the doorway, a horrorstruck expression on his face as 'Hideki Ryuuga' shook _that_ drawer around. L was so surprised by Light's reappearance that he dropped the drawer. Right before it hit the ground Light tackled "Ryuuga" and was pushing his face into the ground. L tried to kick him off but he was so strong! A split second later the drawer hit the floor and instantly exploded in a massive fireball and the flames went up all around them. Just before the fire hit them some strange tent-like structure spread out around them and seemed to shield them from the blast but L couldn't see what it was, seeing as Light had currently forced his face down into the floor. Before he could even begin to process what had happened it was already over and Light seemed to produce a fire extinguisher from nowhere.

L looked bewilderedly around the room. Remarkably there were only a few scorch marks. (Light had fireproofed the room pretty well since his last argument with Ryuk.) L breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that, miraculously, his laptop was outside the blast range. He could review the footage later. He really wanted to know what that "tent-thing" was that shielded them. As Light continued to scream at him, and got in his face L mused how it didn't make any sense—by all rights they should be dead and though Light took the brunt of it _he didn't have a mark on him!_ The only thing that was burned was his clothes. L realized he should probably be listening to what his enraged suspect was screaming but he was having an even harder time focusing now that Light had crawled on top of him ... Naked.

 _Don't look, don't look..._

L's eye-line naturally gravitated towards _that_ region as Light hung above him and then he could only stare at it in awe. It seemed his brain had short-circuited again as he realized that right now at this particular moment he would have absolutely no problem with _Kira_ ravishing him.

Seemingly oblivious to L's current problem Light continued to scream at him. "You could have died! _You IDIOT!_ "

L's eyes narrowed. He was _not_ an idiot and did not take well to being called such. "How the hell was I supposed to know about your unhealthy little hobbies?" L spat venomously.

Light instantly shut up and looked suspiciously down at the other man.

 _Crap! He's probably wondering how much I know!_ When he saw he had overdone it L quickly fell back into playing the role of 'Hideki Ryuuga, college student.' "I was just looking around! You said I could!" He whined. L watched in fascination as the other's features softened considerably as he played naïve and innocent. That had worked far better than expected. _Well, he has a younger sibling..._ L felt quite a rush that he could play the world's most notorious killer like a piano. Caught up in the thrill of it, L ventured to push again. "What kind of _PSYCHO_ keeps a _bomb_ in their desk? _Are you freakin' insane?_ " L knew it was dangerous baiting the suspect, especially after he was caught out like this, but he needed to "play innocent" in order to keep his cover. L fully intended to drop the bombshell of his true identity on Light but on his terms, when the time was right. Now, in this position of weakness, was not that time. Not when Light looked like he might murder him with his bare hands for almost dying… _Wait, what?_ L ran that thought again and concluded that that was not a logical reaction.

 _A purely emotional response... Wait, does this mean that Light, KIRA, is concerned about my well-being?_

L wasn't very good at expressing emotions but he was an expert at reading them. Light wouldn't get this angry for just blowing up his room or looking through his stuff. It could only mean he cared... (He cared _deeply?_ ) Well Light only knew him as Hideki Ryuuga the student. Perhaps for some unfathomable reason he found "Ryuuga" to be instantly likeable. L had no doubt that would change once he told him his true identity.

When Ryuuga spoke Light winced as if struck. "I'm not _insane!_ " Light seethed, glowering at the other man. L held his stare. After a tense moment that seemed to stretch on forever Light looked away.

Light was still very angry with Ryuuga for pulling this but mostly he was angry with himself. He _knew_ he should have defused that trap but he really didn't want anyone (namely his father) finding any of that stuff. _Ryuuga almost… He… He'll never be safe around me..._

"Look, I'm sorry about all this. If you want the deposit back..."

 _Crap!_ L couldn't move out! He needed to stay here if he wanted to continue his investigation.

"No, that's... that's okay." L assured him.

Light looked surprised. "You still want to stay here... after the room exploded? Are _you_ insane?"

L smiled cutely. "Probably. Look your chemistry experiment almost killed me but you also saved my life so, I mean, I guess we're even..."

Honestly, it was irksome that Light, _Kira,_ had just saved his life. True Light was the one who put him in danger in the first place but for some reason as Light hung above him L was feeling very conflicted and almost... _grateful._ "I-I mean, no one has ever done so much for me before," That was a lie but it was very effective if the look Light was giving him were any indication. L didn't know what compelled him to reach up and trail his fingers down Light's bare chest.

Light seemed to just notice their position and then suppressed a shudder at L's touch. Light wanted to dominate over the other male. Fuck his brains out, drain him dry!

It took all of his self-control not to.

"Don't!" Light snarled through gritted teeth and swiftly got off of Ryuuga.

L was kicking himself; feeling utterly dejected at Light's rejection. _Too much too fast. No, wait, since when did "seduce Light" become part of the plan? I shouldn't be thinking of the SUSPECT that way!_

L began to reluctantly pick up his things. "I'm sorry. It's just… I feel as if I already know you. You know, I feel as if you're the first friend I've ever had." Alright, maybe he laid it on a bit thick there because Light was looking at him with absolute pity... L hated it.

Light sighed and walked across the room, facing away from the other man. But L could tell from his posture he was in deep thought. L figured that Light must be either very trusting that he wouldn't try anything or very confident that he could maintain control of the situation as he turned his back on "Ryuuga" in his current state of undress. L had noticed before during his surveillance and he noticed again that Light had a very fine ass. L suppressed a groan. Light showed absolutely no shame about his nakedness. L could tell just by the way he moved that Light was very comfortable about his body and had no problem with L's staring. But then why did Light freak out when he touched him? L bit his thumb until it bled.

"You can stay," Light said abruptly.

L gaped at the other man. He could swear that Light was giving him a sultry, "come-hither" look. It had to be his (currently overactive) imagination.

"You know; if you want..." The "God of the New World" added gruffly. He turned around to glare at the beautiful nuisance that would be taking up residence with him and added in a very severe tone. "Just... don't touch my stuff..." But even as he said it the other was already picking up a slightly charred dildo with the tips of his thumb and index finger. Light gave out a great sigh of resignation.

L stared at the dildo and began to giggle at the sheer absurdity of it all. Not just a drawer full of sex toys but an exploding drawer full of sex toys. Was Light that desperate to stay in the closet? He could use this.

"Light-kun... is a pervert." L muttered out loud. The detective realized he probably should have been processing the probability that Light was Kira. After all Light had just displayed superhuman abilities, considering that he didn't get burned and they weren't dead, but he found he still couldn't move past how _glorious_ Light looked with his clothes off.

Light arched an eyebrow as he saw where Ryuuga was looking. "Who's the pervert?"

L held up the dildo. "The physical evidence points to you, Light-kun."

Light leered. "You're the one touching it."

 _How childish... And Kira-like._ "I'm not the one parading around naked."

"And whose fault is that?" Light said icily as he snatched up another pair of jeans and swiftly got dressed.

L flopped back down on the charred floor, and stared at the ceiling, for some reason feeling very disappointed.


	11. Better Than Cake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Reader discretion advised. I OWN NOTHING!

"My cake…" L pouted as he mournfully eyed the scattered, burned and blackened remnants of the smashed minifridge.

"You're lucky that's all you lost! You almost died! _Idiot!_ "

L sniffled as he stared at the blackened crumbs and smeared frosting. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

Sure L's cake was serious business but he could always just get more! It was like he had left his years of discipline, and iron clad control of his emotions on the other side of the door to Light's apartment—which was utterly ridiculous! Light was hardly the first person that L found attractive—he wasn't even the first person that L found attractive that he would one day arrest and bring to justice…

 _I am L! The greatest detective in the world! I am NOT weak! I am most certainly NOT an emotional wreck!_

L found that for some reason berating himself only made him feel worse. But he normally had such mastery of his emotions that most people assumed he didn't have them. Back at Wammy's House, A had once accused him of secretly being a robot and that no mere human could ever hope to live up to him. (L had found it amusing at the time though it wasn't so funny in retrospect.) How he got that way didn't really matter—it was just the way he was: he was L, that was all there was to it. He couldn't let something as foolish as _emotions_ stand in the way of _justice_. He thought for sure that Kira felt the same way…

That was when L first had the terrifying thought: _What if I'm already under Kira's control? Kira can control people's actions in the moments leading up to death. But… that's impossible! He doesn't know my name! Kira needs a name and a face in order to kill... or so the evidence had led me to believe. Perhaps I underestimated the extent of his powers—Kira has been known to conceal the full extent of his abilities. What if this was a trap for me from the very beginning?_ It was the only possible explanation for why he felt this way, for why he felt… _Damn you Kira! Damn you to hell!_

"Hey… Ryuuga…"

L was vaguely aware that Light was speaking to him, his voice laced with concern.

 _It must be… Kira is controlling me and then I'm going to die soon. No! Please no! Not like this!_

L had been resigned that this case may very well be his last but to die so _stupidly!_ It was utterly unacceptable! L slumped, staring at the floor, unseeing. He idly watched in a detached manner as droplets of rain fell to the floor. He rather liked rain. _No, it can't be raining, we're indoors._

L startled when suddenly there were arms around him, as Light held him in a protective embrace. The detective froze as Light held him close, burying his face in "Ryuuga's" raven hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I snapped at you. I'll get you another cake, alright? Just stop…" L flinched as Light wiped the wetness from his face. "Please…"

 _Light is Kira._ The murderer was still looking at him with such caring that L almost didn't want to believe…

But L's profile couldn't be wrong either. Maybe something was wrong with Kira too? In that case maybe he wasn't being controlled by Kira; at least not in the normal way and maybe he wasn't dying. L desperately clung to that hope as Light clung to him, his hand soothingly gliding up and down the detective's back.

"I'm so sorry…" Light repeated.

L glanced at the killer incredulously. "You can stop apologizing, Light-kun. It's just a cake. It's not like anyone died."

Light flinched "I'm sor—" he began to say again but Ryuuga glared at him. Light coughed and looked away. But L soon caught him stealing yet another demure glance. _What is going on here? It's like Light Yagami worships the very ground I walk on! Unless... of course._ "I'm not _that_ Hideki Ryuuga!" L spat indignantly.

"Oh-of course not!"

To L's hidden amusement Light looked surprised by that announcement.

"I—" L was about to announce his true identity but as Light continued to devour him with his eyes the words caught in his throat... and all things considered perhaps he should wait on that little announcement until after he learned _how_ Kira killed. "I… Call me Ryuuzaki."

The detective was unsettled to realize that the way Light was looking at him hadn't really changed despite the fact that he had announced he was _not_ the famous pop star.

 _Why? Has he somehow guessed…?_

"Ryuuzaki," Light repeated.

 _Is Kira testing the name?_ L thought as he heard how every syllable rolled melodiously off the murderer's tongue, all the while never breaking his unblinking gaze.

 _It's almost like he's infatuated with me…_ L thought as he relaxed into the soothing feeling of Light rubbing his back. It felt good, even through his sweater. _Wait, what?_

The detective felt a shiver go up his spine and admittedly it wasn't all from fear. L blushed as he realized he was leaning into his touch.

L couldn't know that he was being too hard on himself, that he was showing remarkable restraint considering who and _what_ was cuddling up next to him, or that an incubus' mojo was so powerful that when the demon got excited all humans within a five block radius became inexplicably weak in the knees—it would be several months later before L noticed the correlation between Kira's appearance and a rise in unplanned pregnancies in the Kanto region.

 _This… this is Kira's doing! He IS controlling me somehow! Why? Has he somehow guessed that I am L? But what does he hope to gain from all this? Does he really expect me to back down if he humiliates me? No… there's no way he could have guessed. How could he? So why would he do this unless… unless…_

L realized that Light was holding him much longer than "friends" would deem appropriate. The edges of L's lips slowly quirked upward as he thought _Is it possible Kira has fallen in love with my "Hideki Ryuuga the college student" identity and is scared of hurting him? I can use this—maybe I can even get him to admit to me that he is Kira._

When L returned his gaze with an intense stare of his own Light looked away suddenly nervous and cleared his throat. "Look, I feel really bad about all this. Whatever you need…"

Somehow L didn't think "Confess to me that you are Kira" and "please tell me how you kill" would work.

_To exploit this I need to get closer to him. I need… I need…_

L again shyly put a hand on Light's bare chest. "Light-kun."

Light suppressed a groan. Ryuuzaki was _so close_ Light's demonic instincts were screaming at him to make him his. "What do you want, Ryuuzaki?" Light whispered carelessly in a voice that could melt even the most prudish of humans. "Anything at all…"

"You know there is something else you can give me that I would very much enjoy…" L took a calculated risk and whispered in his suspect's ear. It seemed like a brilliant idea to L at the moment–it wouldn't occur to him until later that whatever force was making him feel so _moody_ still had a hold of him and was influencing his decision-making.

Light could hardly believe the things Ryuuga, Ryuuzaki, _his Raven,_ was saying. To Light this was quite literally a dream come true. Ryuuzaki's dirty-talking and then how he shyly licked at the shell of his ear proved too much for the young incubus who promptly tackled the other man, kissing him eagerly. L fought back valiantly but for some reason Light's tongue seemed much _longer_ than it should be. Light immediately began exploring under Ryuuzaki's sweater feeling the other's rock hard abs. He smiled into Ryuuzaki's mouth—just like him, his chosen lover was lithe and strong. Meanwhile, that white obstruction of a sweater was somehow mysteriously ripped off the other man—it landed across the room in pieces. L's own hands explored moving up and down the other's back, searching for something to hold onto. He drifted lower and slipped into Light's pants to play with his ass cheeks. This earned a growl from the younger man and in one swift motion captured both of L's wrists in one hand. L yelped as Light picked him up, bridal style, and then slammed him down onto his bed. L saw stars. Light held Ryuuzaki down as he straddled him, keeping his hands trapped above his head with his left hand while the other roamed freely—petting and stroking and squeezing—his ministrations earning him a needy moan from the other man.

Light grinned. "You're so cute, Ryuuzaki!"

The detective blushed with embarrassment. This wasn't exactly the way he imagined it—for one thing the Detective had assumed he would be on top…

L had pushed against the younger man, trying to reverse their positions but Light hadn't budged, nor did he even seem to _notice_ as he continued attacking L's neck with great fervor. (The detective gasped—Light's teeth felt _so sharp_ as they brushed against his skin!) L silently increased the Kira percentage upon discovering that the teen had truly _inhuman_ strength. L's eyes widened ever so slightly as he realized that in his current situation—this did not bode well. (He moaned as Light rubbed against his taught stomach.) Things were rapidly spiraling out of control—assuming that he had any control to begin with given how easily he gave in to this! Asking his main suspect to sleep with him? Where had his common sense gone? But it was all moving so fast and L could barely think in the haze of hormones caused by just being near Light. The wheels turned in L's genius mind as Light pleasantly attacked his body. Even if he didn't yet have the proof that Light was Kira he could at least prove that he wasn't _normal_ like he pretended to be and was probably in fact some kind of supervillain. The detective abruptly lost his train of thought as Light tugged down his jeans and lowered his head to his weeping cock. L gave a startled cry as Light's tongue flicked out teasing the tip. Light moved his tongue up and down along the blue vein before he took it all into his mouth. L became vaguely aware that his hands were now free but at the moment all he thought to do with them was to grab hold of Light's silky brown hair.

As he bobbed his head up and down Ryuuzaki's length Light secretly hoped that his enthusiasm would make up for experience—he certainly never bothered doing this for any of the criminals he used. But this wasn't the trash he usually fed on. This was his Raven, Hideki Ryuuga, Ryuuzaki… He was smart, and clever, and oh so beautiful. Light didn't believe in bullshit like having a soul mate but if he had one, it would definitely be Ryuuzaki. He could almost be his equal… In any case he was the only one _worthy_ to stand by Kira's side. He wanted things to be perfect for his Raven—he had picked up on Ryuuzaki's nervousness and concluded it must have been his first time, or at least his first time in _this_ position. As much as he might deny it Light was (underneath several layers of psychosis) a hopeless romantic at heart—he wanted to make it special for him. Light smirked smugly as Ryuuzaki kicked and moaned as he licked and sucked, the other man's long pale legs splayed out before him in open invitation.

L groaned in protest when Light suddenly stopped, giving the tip of his cock a farewell kiss as he turned his attention elsewhere.

Dammit, he was so close! "Finish what you start!" the debauched detective snarled without thinking.

So without further ado, Light threw Ryuuzaki's legs up over his shoulders for easier access and positioned a pillow beneath him for comfort.

Ryuuzaki was visibly alarmed by the action. "W-wait!"

Light looked at him entreatingly but his tone was firm. "I'm going to finish inside you."

When his bottom made an instinctive move to get away Light tried to reassure him by kissing him again but he had to cut it off as he was struck in the head as Ryuuzaki kicked wildly. In retaliation Light oh-so-slightly, very subtly let out his claws a bit. He didn't want to let them all the way out—it was mostly through his claws that he "fed" (and through his dick—the draining through the latter was far harder to control though he could limit it.) His claws were envenomated with a more potent form of the biochemical cocktail his body always exuded—a powerful aphrodisiac that had the bonus of making his partner more sedate and compliant. Naturally, Light saw nothing wrong with this since he was the one doing it. He lightly nicked his squirming partner's back and then forcefully retracted his "hungry" claws.

Light grinned wickedly—now Ryuuzaki could just lean back and enjoy himself.

"Relax," Light commanded in his most soothing tone. L was hypnotized by that melodic voice as he stared up into those beautiful, mesmerizing red eyes. Wait doesn't Light have brown eyes? 

Actually Light was looking kind of scary… But L didn't get beyond that thought as the effect of Light drugging him was nigh instantaneous. Ryuuzaki keened with need as Light parted his ass cheeks, applying a generous helping of lube as he gently rubbed against that tight ring of muscles. Oh he could have just shoved in with his self-lubricating demon dick. In fact the temptation was strong but he didn't want to disturb Ryuuzaki any more than he already was. After all, the very reason he was showing restraint was because he hoped to do it again after this. He would at least be a gentleman the first time…

L squeaked in alarm.

"You alright?"

"It's cold!" L hissed as the lube flooded his insides.

Light chuckled "Don't worry—I'll warm you up."

Another whine escaped L's throat as he felt Light's fingers scissoring inside of him. It felt weird and very uncomfortable. The detective gasped as Light twisted his fingers.

Light smiled slyly. "There it is."

Now that… that was very nice—L wanted more.

"Light… please!" He whined.

Light teased him a little while longer; wanting to make sure he was stretched enough before he removed his fingers. L mewled at the loss of them, feeling strangely empty.

Light unzipped his pants, finally freeing him from that restraint. And when L again got an eyeful of Light, gaping in awe and fear as he wondered how the hell _that_ was going to fit inside him. Nonetheless the detective shivered in excitement as Light brushed it against him; positioning himself at his entrance.

"I-I don't think…I" Ryuuzaki stammered.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Trust me," Light insisted and then, with much more care than he would usually show to his partner, he was shoving in.

L shouted in pain and shot up into a sitting position clinging to Light as the sweat dripped from his brow.

"Shhh. It'll get better soon, I promise." Light assured him.

Without even thinking about it L bit into Light's shoulder to keep from screaming again. He bit so hard that blood trickled down. Light ignored it. He had become rather numbed to pain after the "flying lesson" incident with Ryuk where he inadvertently tested his regenerative capabilities as well. (He had no problems with the "flying" part— especially when he redefined the term to mean "falling gracefully"—it was the landing that was _hard_ —by the end of the night Light had added "concrete sidewalks" to his ever growing list of things that were evil and deserved to die.)

L was too focused on his own pain to realize how he was hurting the other… or how the wound closed on its own.

L whimpered, as they fit awkwardly together, afraid he was going to be ripped apart.

"I'm all in." Light announced as he laid kisses along the other's collarbone. "Are you alright?"

L nodded. It _hurt,_ but it wasn't nearly as bad as he feared. He panted, it was painful but it also felt good to feel so full. L was sure Light had stretched him to his limits, like a harp string, and that this was either going to break him or they would make the most beautiful music together. L rolled his hips trying to adjust to the feeling and his mouth gaped open at the sensations: pain and something else that was more interesting as he readjusted and it felt like Light's cock was teasing that place deep inside.

"Can I… _please?_ " Light groaned.

After a moment of hesitation L answered. "… _Yes._ "

Light began to move very slowly, taking great care with Ryuuzaki. Not only did he fear draining him but since becoming a demon he was so much stronger than normal humans he could easily hurt him if he wasn't careful. So he let Ryuuzaki set the pace as he took cues from his very vocal lover.

"Light! Yes, just like that! Right there! Right… Of _fuck!_ Light! _Light!_ " L howled out a pleasured cry as he got a small taste of his lover's power and strength—he arched up against Light, trying to get more.

Light worked hard to curb his demonic instincts but, it was getting harder with Ryuuzaki's uninhibited cries. He would have to finish quickly if he wanted Ryuuzaki alive to play with later.

Light stroked him in time, as he worked them both quickly to a shuddering, powerful climax. It took _everything,_ all of Light's energy, control, and concentration to keep from draining his lover. L's eyes were unfocused and he saw a flash of white stars as he rode the waves of intense pleasure that ripped through his body and so missed the moment when Light reverted to his true form. They collapsed together in a tangle of limbs. L was vaguely aware that there were too many limbs before he too was out like a Light.


	12. Inner Demons

The first thing L felt when he slowly returned to consciousness was _exhaustion._ Their _previous activities_ had left him feeling drained and even sleeping for so long had failed to cure it. (Several hours was a long time for the insomniac detective.) The other thing L observed was that Light's arm seemed to increase exponentially in mass as he left it draped across his hips. The detective shifted uncomfortably but he couldn't really move—every part of him ached but it was a pleasant ache—he felt content like he had just indulged in a decadent layer cake and elated as if he had just solved a difficult case. L found that puzzling. All they did was engage in a biological function and it was hardly the first time the detective had experimented with it…. As L woke up some more he immediately began to have regrets. He slept with Kira! _Why_ did he sleep with his suspect? What could have _possessed_ him…?

As L awoke to this epiphany he tried in earnest to get away but still found he couldn't move. However though his mind was in turmoil his body was quite content to stay put at the moment. In defiance of logic and common sense he felt perfectly safe where he was with his… _lover(?)_ spooning against his back as he lay beneath the warm and cozy blankets…

Wait… L didn't remember ever getting under the covers and didn't Light's bed have a _blue_ comforter…? This one was a brilliant shade of red and felt soft and smooth against his bare skin. L noticed that the fabric was regularly broken up by some oddly-organic structures that almost resembled elongated finger that terminated in claws.

L's heart began to hammer in his chest as he realized it wasn't a blanket—it was patagia, like the wing of a bat. L followed the "fingers" to where they connected to an "arm" draped over him and slowly turned around, following the wings to where they seemed to sprout out from behind his sleeping beau… who seemed to have grown a pair of horns and dyed his hair candy red when he wasn't looking. L gave a startled cry and instinctively tried to shoot away but he was trapped in the entanglement of limbs and wings and… and L became aware that there were too many limbs entangled with his own—something long and serpentine was curled possessively around his right leg. The detective shuddered in fear as he felt the thing slithering against him.

L's squirming caused Light to stir. L heard him murmuring something about a "sweet raven" as he hugged him closer, pressing his back flush against his chest. To L's immediate embarrassment a terrified whimper escaped his throat. Light's eyes shot open at Ryuuzaki's sound of distress.

"Ryuuzaki? What's wrong?"

L stared—when he spoke there was a hint of fangs and… and _Light's eyes!_ They were blood red, serpentine, and were gleaming with their own light! Light looked like the face of Death— _his death._

Light reached out to try and comfort his lover and saw the claws that tipped the ends of his fingers.

_Oh shi—!_

Light remembered now, before he collapsed it had taken _everything_ to keep from draining Ryuuzaki—he hadn't even had the energy to keep up appearances at being human. Light's breathing became erratic with panic. (L noticed the change in the midst of his own panic. What does a _monster_ fear? ) Light was terrified of losing Ryuuzaki over this—or worse, having to kill him…

_"Ryuuzaki…"_

_It'll be alright, I won't have to kill him. He's mine! He will be loyal to me. My experiments prove it! Even when I revealed this form to the criminals that I slept with they were still loyal and eager to serve me._

As a show of good faith Light gave Ryuuzaki his space, releasing him from his suffocating embrace, and uncoiled his tail from where it had curled around Ryuuzaki's leg as he slept.

_Sometimes to capture something you must first set it free._

Light sat back in a relaxed pose, folding his wings so that they rested over his shoulders and down his back like a great red cape.

He simply watched as Ryuuzaki comically scuttled to the other end of the bed, never once taking his eyes off him—or even _blinking._

Light fidgeted, the way Ryuuzaki was staring was kind of creeping him out.

"Ryuuzaki. It's me… it's still me!"

Ryuuzaki still looked terrified. Well, he still looked like a demon, but Light was certain that making Ryuuzaki watch the transformation process would freak him out even more—sometimes the change was seamless but more often it was _painful_ and gross—sometimes when he changed to human form his wings, horns, and tail would shrivel up strangely or when going the other way his skeletal structure would grow faster than the rest of him and exposed bone would burst from his changing body before the other tissues regenerated. It was not a pretty sight.

Light worked to comfort Ryuuzaki ( _his_ Ryuuzaki) by placing a hand on his shoulder but he _flinched._ Light tried to keep from frowning—that made him feel unwanted. No one had rejected him in well… _ever._ It _hurt._

_Of course Ryuuzaki is stronger-willed than **those** weak-minded fools. I have to work to keep his trust… no—it's better this way. If it's too easy it almost feels like cheating… _

"Please… I'm sorry. I know I look… _scary_ like this." Light pleaded.

L snapped out of his existential crisis upon discovering that _monsters_ may actually exist to answer the perceived stab at his already wounded pride.

"I'm not _scared_ of you," L hissed.

Light wondered who he was trying to convince.

"Really…?" Light asked hopefully and then looked away with downcast eyes. "Most people are." Light said it in a quiet, pitiful voice that was carefully calculated to simultaneously compliment Ryuuzaki for his great courage and inspire his sympathy. Hopefully that would keep Ryuuzaki from running for the door or questioning his decision to stay with Light as he no doubt would…

No, L wouldn't consider himself _scared_ of Light. Sure he was a bit shell-shocked by all this but he thought he was taking it rather well—after all he had already been fairly certain that he had been screwed by a monster. This just made it more obvious. Perhaps he was closer to discovering the source of Kira's powers… But even _more_ interesting to the detective was that Light's pleading that Ryuuzaki not leave him… it seemed _genuine._

 _Kira is **vulnerable…**_

L nodded and repeated Light's words in what (he hoped) was a soothing tone "You are still you. You are Light-kun. Light-kun is very dear to me..."

Light looked pleased and relieved at Ryuuzaki's answer and hugged him amorously. It was too much too soon, L shied away without meaning to. Light looked absolutely stricken and began to apologize profusely again.

"I'm sorry I— _Please,_ I'm not a monster!"

L never ceased in his staring. _That face... Like the face of death itself…_

"Are you a Shinigami?" L blurted out.

_"What?"_

L was kicking himself. This is why he didn't do his own legwork most of the time! He was well aware how social complexities worked _in theory_ but overall had trouble grasping the whole concept of _tact._ He knew after the fact that this was entirely wrong moment to ask and he quickly attempted damage control, (and hoped he wasn't digging himself in deeper.)

"You know; the Kira case… it's all anyone ever talks about on campus."

_That excuse should also work to excuse any other suspicious queries in the future. "Ryuuzaki" is merely curious about the Kira case—just like the rest of the global population._

"Really?" Light feigned a passive interest but L could see how Light was glowing with pride at that statement (L found that to be irksome. The people were living in fear. Yes, surely **that** was something to be proud of.) But even more telling was Light's new tail. L had noticed how the red, serpentine thing had drooped listlessly when his lover... _er suspect_ was upset but now it had begun wagging happily.

 _"Who's a good Kira, yes you are!"_ L suppressed a rare smile and made a mental note that Light was much easier to read in this form.

"I remember reading it in the paper. Kira mentioned something about Shinigami… And… there's a rumor that Kira must be a Shinigami."

Light gaped at his Raven and then looked visibly irritated. Such a statement was non-falsifiable. To answer that he wasn't a Shinigami would mean he was subtly admitting that he was Kira. To deny he was Kira made him look like a Shinigami—and Kira.

 _Who ARE you?_ Light stared at Ryuuzaki as if seeing him for the first time. _He was getting into my stuff too. Could he be a spy sent by L?_

_No…_

_Ryuuzaki matched my score! He's not one of those idiots! Raye Penber, Naomi Misora caught out so easily! He's… he's just like me!_

**_"You remind me of L. There's something about you that's just like him."_**

_There's no proof that he's—_

_Come on! THE L wouldn't take unnecessary risks like confronting a suspect with an unknown murder weapon directly! That's STUPID! The real L would stay somewhere safe. He'd think of a plan first!_

But then Light remembered how much fun _he_ had gloating over dying criminals and FBI agents… If L really was "just like him..."

_Alright, it's unlikely it's L unless he is absolutely certain that I couldn't do anything to him. Could it be he feels safe just because Kira doesn't know his name? Is he really that overconfident?_

Light looked up to see that Ryuuzaki was still staring at him, no _studying him_ intently.

 _Could Ryuuzaki really be…?_

Light felt himself getting _hot_ as the feelings of anger and betrayal washed over him. L watched puzzled as Light bolted for the restroom, slamming the door behind him and ripping it from its hinges.

L winced as he suddenly realized how easily Light could hurt him if he wanted to. Light didn't need his name in that monstrous form he could kill him with his bare hands and though L knew that if Light killed him now his death would alert the other investigators to Kira's identity that thought offered him little solace.

Meanwhile in the bathroom Light stepped into the freezing shower just as the flames began to roll off his skin. It was never this bad before. The very thought that Ryuuzaki could be his _enemy_ —the very L he was fighting all this time was… He wanted to _scorch the Earth_ at the very idea!

 _No! PLEASE NO! DAMMIT! NO! I—I **love** this man! I love…_

It was scary how fast the bond had formed. It was like Ryuuzaki was the first human being he could actually even _relate_ to. He couldn't even imagine a perfect world without that beautiful quirky genius in it.

Light immediately saw this attachment as a weakness—it was an obstacle to all he had worked for. He _HAD_ to kill L! He didn't _want_ to but he _needed_ to. What was _one life_ compared to the thousands, the millions he could save by acting as Kira? If he couldn't kill L he was compromising his mission and everything he stood for! Stopping was unthinkable—what would it all have been for if he didn't see it through to the end? He _had_ to kill L! He had to kill… Ryuuzaki...

"Light-kun?" Ryuuzaki asked softly, his voice laced with concern as he stumbled into the bathroom to find where Light had taken to huddling in the corner of the shower.

Light stared at his knees unseeing as the shower spray rolled down his face (it _had_ to be spray…)

L stumbled backwards in surprise when Light suddenly put his fist through the bathroom tiles and roared _**"IT'S NOT FAIR!"**_

"Life isn't fair, Light..." L again wished he could figure out that whole _tact_ thing soon because aggravating Light didn't seem particularly wise at the moment. L watched as the water from the shower turned to steam before hitting Light's skin and how little tongues of flame rolled off of him in bursts (giving _"flaming"_ a whole new meaning) and began to get an inkling of just how dangerous Light really was...

Meanwhile, Light quickly thought of an excuse to explain his behavior. "You weren't supposed to know! _No one_ was supposed to know! You weren't supposed to see me _like this!_ " It came out as a choked sob.

 _Yes,_ Light thought to himself. _I truly am an amazing actor._

"Light-kun…"

Light saw L's obvious look of concern, and how the other reached out his hand but withdrew it in fear of getting burned. Light took a deep breath and another and slowly he managed to calm himself and the flames subsided. L tentatively laid his hand on Light's shoulder and to his surprise found it cold to the touch.

"I'm not a Shinigami! I'm not Kira! _I'm not a monster!_ "

"Alright…" L said it softly, soothingly as he crouched down next to Kira, like he was trying to tame a wild beast... (The thought occurred to him that perhaps he _could_ tame Kira if he just found the right leash. Maybe after this was all over he could keep Kira as a pet…) "I'm sorry, Light-kun." Light quickly masked his surprise at L's apology but the detective saw how that tail stood on end. "I didn't think. I—Has this always happened or…?"

Light hugged his knees to his chest. "One day I just woke up this way," he said brokenly, determined to play the pity card for all it was worth. He promised his mother he wouldn't tell anyone about the family history and besides if Ryuuzaki really was L then the less he knew the better.

_But then if he really is L he'll expect Light Yagami to take some interest in his condition..._

"I think…" Light began experimentally "I think _I'm a demon._ " Light spat the words as if they were poison.

Light gasped as Ryuuzaki suddenly hugged him but recovered in time to smirk evilly over his shoulder.

 _No. This is perfect. Even if Ryuuzaki is L himself. ESPECIALLY if Ryuuzaki is L himself… he's mine now!_

_I won't have to kill him! Ryuuzaki can and will repent his crimes for going against Kira. He's in my thrall—he'll give me everything if I just ask… This is my perfect victory!_

Light had long dreamed of defeating the detective, of beating his worthy opponent into the cold dead ground. But this was even better—he could keep L alive as a servant for Kira, a plaything… a pet.

 _And he won't even realize how he's being used..._ Light frowned. Some glimmer of his former humanity found that idea to be very unsettling. _It almost seems unfair… It's just... too easy. That's it. I'll wait to ask L to stop investigating._ Honestly Light was having too much fun matching wits against him and if he took him down too fast others were sure to fill that vacuum… better the devil you know and Light was confident that L could not harm him now. His experiments indicated that once he claimed a human they were incapable of harming him even when he provoked them. All he had to do was "Ryuuzaki… Could you not tell anyone about this?"

When Ryuuzaki stared at him blankly Light continued "I mean _look_ at me. _I'm a demon!_ Most people will just judge on appearances. What if someone gives my name to Kira?"

Ryuuzaki locked eyes with him and said in his most reassuring and condescending tone "Light-kun, whatever you are, I'm sure you're not a demon. Such a thing does not exist. Perhaps you are some new kind of genetic mutant?" Light's eyes narrowed and his tail twitched in irritation but he refused to rise to the bait. Ryuuzaki chewed on his thumb for a moment. "Light-kun… would you let me study you? We can figure this out together." Ryuuzaki asked innocently as he gave his cutest smile.

"I thought you said you were majoring in Criminal Justice." Light reminded him.

"Oh, that's right…" L looked rather abashed.

 _Yep, we're just two normal college students. Nothing is going on…_ Light managed to suppress the "I-got-you-there" smirk but it did little good to hide his feelings since L had certainly noticed how Light had unconsciously curled his tail triumphantly and possessively around his waist.

"I'm minoring in biology. I thought maybe I'd go into forensics."

Light nodded. Yes that seemed a better fit with Ryuuzaki's "shyness."

"If you study me that would mean telling other people..."

"No you see… my grandfather is a genetics researcher. He owns a company."

"Your grandfather?" Light looked dubious. L wondered what sort of impression Watari left behind as he pressed on. "It would be completely confidential, I promise," Ryuuzaki persuaded. "I mean, look at you, you're _amazing!_ I bet somewhere in your genome is a cure for cancer!"

Light looked deflated "For a moment there I thought you were going to say 'amazing in bed.'"

 _Of course Kira has an ego the size of a planet…_ Apparently he needed to stroke it some more before this conversation could advance any further.

"…And I thought that went without saying," L said through gritted teeth. It was true but he was loath to admit it—alright the sex was _amazing_ but that was kind of overshadowed by the fact that he _slept with his suspect._ This wasn't his finest hour.

"You'd be doing a great service to the world and should you want it you'd get credit and half of the proceeds of anything we might discover or develop from you.

 _Ryuuzaki is L. If I say no it looks like I have something to hide._ Light sighed. "I suppose it depends what you mean by 'study.'"

"Nothing too invasive... I'm thinking draw some blood; take some X-rays, a full physical workup…"

"Done by you right?" Light abruptly cut in, " _Not_ your grandfather." Light visibly shuddered. The young incubus could not turn off his "sex-beam" powers—that's why he avoided humans whenever possible. Light had already met Ryuuzaki's grandfather… and made a hasty retreat when the old man goosed him.

L looked surprised. "If that's what you want… I suppose I _am_ already qualified to do simple exams." Ryuuzaki stated with faux humility.

Light nodded. "I would rather it was you."

L stared more intently as he realized what else was inherent in that request… _"I wouldn't mind if **you** touched me." Light is **infatuated** with me. He likes me, he _trusts_ me. I'm sure if I just keep asking, he'll admit to me he's Kira—he'll tell me everything._

"Thank you." Light said softly and nuzzled against him. L startled at the sudden contact.

 _He's still jumpy around me, despite what he says. I suppose I would be too in his position but seriously he's acting like I intend to devour him or something… Well a little late for that—I already did. The meat was saltier than potato chips but Ryuuzaki seemed to enjoy it…_

Light stifled a giggle and a smug smile broke through despite his best efforts.

_"What?"_

"You know I'm not going to _eat you,_ right…?" Light's voice dropped in pitch as he added in a sultry tone "That is unless you want me to."

Light looked up at Ryuuzaki fondly as he snuggled into the crouching man's side. He wanted to blow him again—it was clear that Ryuuzaki had loved that. Next time he'd finish him that way. He'd swallow it. He'd swallow it _all..._

"Why would I want…! _Oh…!_ "

Light grinned as Ryuuzaki's cheeks burned. He was unaware of how his tail swished mischievously—L was finding reading it was easier and far more accurate than a polygraph.

"You know, I like you like this." L mused aloud as he reached out, idly carding through the frisky demon's longer red locks. Between the long hair and the horns... he seemed adaptable. L was sure Light would do well as a bottom as well.

Light looked puzzled at L's statement until he noticed where Ryuuzaki was staring.

"You like my _tail?_ " Light asked incredulously.

L blushed and nodded "I-it's just so big and long… and…" Ryuuzaki grabbed hold of the smooth, scaly tail and delicately stroked it with his long fingers.

_Yes, it's better to let Light think that's why I keep watching it._

Light groaned at the touch and it soon turned into a growl. He caught Ryuuzaki's wrist and shoved it forcefully to an area that could use that treatment more.

"Stroke it!" Light demanded. Ryuuzaki obeyed. For a moment Light just let himself get lost in the _awesome_ feeling of Ryuuzaki's soft hand moving against him.

"You like my tail…" Light repeated breathily and his face split in a dangerous leer. "Want me to show you how I can use it?"


	13. Control

L felt himself getting hot even under the freezing water of the shower as Light's tail slithered up his thigh.

"That's not really neces—" L began but his breath hitched when Light pressed up against him. Light's tongue, now too long and slightly forked, flicked out to lick obscenely up his neck. L groaned as he felt Light pawing at him while he continued his work of planting wet kisses, his tail writhed against L's bare skin, moving up and around and behind him, teasing at his sore entrance. L winced at the thought of doing that now. "Light!" L scolded (L was mortified when it came out in an embarrassing squeak). The detective slipped and stumbled in his haste of trying to get away. Light caught him at the last moment with that damned tail before he could fall roughly on the bathroom tiles.

"Whoa, careful now" Light admonished as he held his Raven close, staring deeply into the dark abyss of his eyes. Ryuuzaki glared back defiantly through his messy black mane. "You're still sore…" Light realized. "It's okay," he said apologetically "If you'd rather I can show you later…" Light promised in a sultry whisper as he held him close, his tail curling possessively around L's waist.

"I—" Ryuuzaki blushed. Admittedly Light's offer was very temping—his body shivered in anticipation; he very much _wanted_ to. Sure he was sore but he was sure he could take it. As L he had trained extensively on how to take pain in the event that he was ever kidnapped… ( _Had_ he been kidnapped? If he was somehow being controlled…) Without thinking about it L snuggled into Light's warm chest. He was no longer wet and cold under the showerhead in Light's embrace—the cold spray pounded against the canopy of Light's wings. Something in L felt very comfortable and safe in the murderer's arms—and upon recognizing these feelings the detective remembered what a dangerous position this was to be in. He could not afford to let his guard down around Kira! He should not have slept with him in the first place! That settled it—there was more at stake right now than his immediate wants—L _really_ needed to know how much control he had over his situation—if any. Would Light stop if he asked? If there was still a _chance_ to take back control he had to take it. He couldn't lose...

"Please, can we _not…_ right now?" Ryuuzaki whined. "I mean… I want to… but I'm still… _sore._ " He said with a grimace, pretending it ached a lot worse than it did.

Light winced sympathetically. "Sorry." The demon nuzzled against his neck. L noticed how Light's tail fell away, drooping in contrition. "Ryuuzaki, _Please_ tell me if I'm being too rough with you! I don't want to hurt you!"

_"I don't want to hurt you." That seems so… REAL. Would that change? If he knew that I am L?_

L grimaced, it was a major blow to his pride that Light saw him as something so weak and fragile but the detective ground out a genuine-sounding "Thank you." L pushed against his chest and Light reluctantly let him go.

"I'm sorry," Light apologized again. "Do you want me to suck your cock, again?"

 _Alright, THAT I wouldn't mind terribly… NO! Focus!_

Meanwhile it seemed his body had acted on its own, pushing the younger man down.

_Dammit! He MUST be controlling me!_

L groaned as that now long, forked tongue played against his hardness. L swallowed nervously as just a hint of fangs scraped against him before Light deep-throated him—it seemed he had lost his gag reflex in this form and L idly wondered if Light could unhinge his jaws like a snake. With another strong jolt of pleasure L's fingers fisted into Light's hair; finding and grabbing hold of the demon's spiral horns (making a note that those were very useful to grab on to). L couldn't quite bring himself to regret going against his plan—he decided he hadn't REALLY lost this round—he didn't! Light was still doing exactly what he wanted...

_"Oh, Light!"_

L very much enjoyed those wet, wild sensations, watching this powerful being (who was in all likelihood the self-appointed God, Kira) sucking his dick. L didn't last long. The detective felt a smug expression creeping onto his face as Light _eagerly_ swallowed it down and when a bit of the milky white substance dribbled from the corner of his mouth Light kittenishly lapped it up. L gaped at his suspect and tried to push down the confusing, conflicting feelings that threatened to overwhelm him and just look at this whole situation logically. If this was all just an act it was a damned good one…

As Light watched how L had melted into a mess of sighs he could again feel himself losing control as he was very tempted to ravish the detective… but Ryuuzaki had already made his wishes very clear. Perhaps getting out of his "ravishing" form might help. Light strained and forced his wings up into his back.

L watched curiously as Light braced himself up against the shower wall, and then continued to watch in bile fascination as Light's wings, horns, and tail shriveled up, disappearing into his body, his face contorted in pain as he gasped for breath.

"Wha—?"

"I... changed back," Light panted.

"I see that. _Why?_ " L stared and stared, taking in everything. The detective couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that useful telltale tail was gone but he wanted to see more of that face, flushed, panting, and in agony. L fantasized about pushing the other to the ground, making him cry and beg, and scream his alias. It would be so easy now that Light was weak and vulnerable. But, alas, he was in no condition to at the moment since he just released.

Light mumbled something in answer to L's question that L didn't quite catch and turned away, still breathing heavily. It didn't take a genius to guess the nature of his problem-the teen had become painfully aroused from getting him off and that hadn't changed even after... shapeshifting.

 _Just what are the limits of Kira's power?_ L felt a sliver of doubt work its way into his mind—what if Light _was_ some supernatural entity not governed by logic or any natural laws? _No… He is no God!_

L could prove it! The detective sprung to his feet and pressed himself against a very surprised Light where he was pressed against the wall, trying to finish up quickly and quietly. The detective reached around to lend a hand (it was best to keep Light infatuated with him—that's all. It wasn't like he was returning the favor or anything) and delighted in the way he could make Light lose control.

Stroke, stroke, stroke. L was pleasantly surprised when Light leaned back against him in a clear sign of trust—like a wolf bearing his throat—letting loose a series of beautiful little whimpers and whines. The detective grinned. Perhaps he _could_ top him if he planned it right…

Light was twitching again and then shouting L's alias and came in a sticky mess all over his hand. L leaped away at the last moment as the wings again erupted from Light's back.

 _So that's how to trigger the change..._ L managed to deduce before he was glomped by a suddenly _very cuddly_ demon, Light's tail was wagging happily as he covered L in sloppy kisses.

 _My pet…_ L thought as he indulged in the ensuing warm and fuzzy feeling and vague sense of victory.

***

"Why do you change back?" Ryuuzaki asked from the bed. He typically found sleep a waste of time but he had for once been rather looking forward to drifting off again snuggled up against his lover, being enveloped in the warm, protective embrace of Light's crimson wings. He was naturally very disappointed when Light changed back to normal and began to get dressed.

Light gave L a blank look. "You're kidding, right?"

"You're very powerful. It's not like anyone can stop you if you wanted to just... walk around like that."

Of course, to L the answer was clear—Light was ashamed of being… whatever he was but L was curious to see how Kira would react when confronted with that idea.

Light didn't bother to respond and just continued to get dressed. L was highly amused—it appeared that Kira was _sulking._

"I like you like that." L assured the teen.

Light gaped at the other man. "You like me looking like an ugly _freak?_ "

L rolled his eyes. "Light-kun looks amazing either way. Surely he knows this and is fishing for compliments."

Light sighed. "To answer your question-well besides the obvious of people panicking and screaming at my approach—my clothes don't fit right in that form."

The detective gave his trademarked pervy smile"…And why do you need to get dressed?"

Light huffed and reached for his dress shirt. "I thought we might go out," he blurted out suddenly. "You know—if you want."

L stared intently, Light had a much better poker face when he looked human but the detective noticed the slight slump of his shoulders, the downcast eyes... Light was looking so very... _guilty._

"Light-kun, are you asking me on a date?" L was wary. Is he leading me into some sort of trap? _But… to what purpose? What could he possibly gain from any of this? He's had plenty of opportunities to kill me before... Come to think of it, Light seemed kind of down ever since… ever since I suggested he was too rough with me! Could it be that he just feels guilty because he thinks he hurt me? Is that even possible? This is Kira! Kira… Light… I thought you were like me! You'd let nothing stand in the way of your goals! How can you feel guilty about **this** and sleep peacefully after killing so many people? Because I'm not a criminal? Because he doesn't know that I am L? Because he **likes** me? Kira-kun certainly has a warped sense of justice—but then I knew that much already. In any case it's important that I keep Light so infatuated with me so I may safely continue this investigation._

"I—I owe you a cake, don't I?"

 _Alright, that settles the matter._ Ryuuzaki affected his cutest smile. "I'd love to, Light-kun."

L searched the apartment, hunting down his clothes. His jeans were still intact but the detective scowled when he found his trademarked white sweater had somehow mysteriously gained several claw-shaped tears in the side.

Light looked sheepish. "Sorry... You can borrow one of mine. We're about the same size..."

Of course, L had a whole suitcase full of identical white sweaters but this little guilt trip gave him the opportunity to go through Light's closet. L searched through the entire thing under the pretense of finding a shirt he liked. After failing to find anything of interest other than a flamboyantly pink dress shirt (that he somehow manipulated Light into wearing) the detective finally settled on one of Light's sweaters—it was black and had a pair of white stripes around the collar. L found it a bit itchy—it wasn't as comfortable as the soft wool tops he was used to but he still found himself blushing like a schoolgirl and snuggling into it—it smelled like Light. L sniffed deeply and smiled, a feeling of bliss settled upon his entire being.

 _The smell..._ That seemed important somehow. Just the smell made him feel _really good._

L stared at his lover ( _his **suspect!**_ ) and he just wanted to touch him, and hold him, and keep him, and never let him go.

 _Is this what **love** feels like?_

L blinked slowly. _Don't be stupid. He's Kira!_ The detective scolded himself. _I am only using his feelings for me to benefit this investigation. This "date" is a perfect opportunity for Wedy to install the cameras. But…_ It suddenly hit L like a punch in the stomach. Why hadn't the taskforce intervened? At the very least he should have received a reproachful call from Watari by now. And surely they should have found it strange when Light suddenly sprouted wings and a tail? _What if the camera in my laptop wasn't working? Was it damaged in the explosion? Of perhaps they're just waiting on my orders?_ L hoped that's all it was. _What if something happened to the Taskforce? Did Light do something to Watari?_ L suppressed a shiver, his mind seething in cold fury. _If Light did anything to… That's unforgivable! No, I don't know for sure yet! I need to get in contact with the taskforce!_

L startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Light giving him a winning smile. "Are you ready? Then let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter got away from me. I guess we've got to wait for the date (and tail fun) for later


	14. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

It was late afternoon as the new couple began their stroll down the street together. L reflected on how strange it was—he had never felt such a sense of peace as he did now, walking side-by-side with Light, the self-described "demon" who L knew was, in all likelihood, the most notorious murderer in the world. His lover and suspect strutted along beside him showing him the sights of the city as if he were a young demigod taking a favored mortal on a tour of his dominion. The city was beautiful at this twilight hour, the setting sun bathing the world in crimson and gold, and delicate pink Sakura petals fluttered down as they passed a stand of cherry trees—getting everywhere in their hair, on their clothes and sticking to their shoes underfoot. L paused to brush the petals from Light's pink dress shirt, happy for the excuse to touch Light.

"They match your shirt," L commented with a saccharine grin.

"You've got some in your hair." Light chuckled; also glad for an excuse to touch the other, running his fingers through Ryuuzaki's dark tresses. L surprised them both by the way he shivered and leaned into Light's touch. The detective again began to berate himself for allowing himself to feel this way about his suspect—but then liked the way Light's hand found and entwined with his own as they resumed their stroll. Just seeing that beautiful smile and feeling the warmth of Light's hand in his gave him such a profound sense of joy. It left the detective feeling confused, and conflicted, and mostly guilty. L was many things but he was never a happy person and he certainly couldn't afford to be one now considering the source of his current happiness—justice was on the line, sacrifices must be made… but all the usual platitudes rang hollow compared to the feeling of Light's hand in his.

L's anxiety only rose as they walked along and he saw how many people were stopping to stare at them. L was used to people staring at him like he was a freak but they were all so _obvious_ about it! Was it because they were holding hands? L reluctantly broke that contact but people kept staring. Perhaps the damage was already done.

What was Light thinking? Surely this would damage his reputation being seen with someone like him—like this. But Light didn't seem to mind, in fact he ignored them completely, as if "Ryuuzaki" was the only other person alive. The detective was feeling slightly guilty at the smitten looks Light kept sending his way. L knew that, whatever else Light might be, his feelings towards him were completely genuine. L fully intended to exploit that for all it was worth but that didn't stop the nausea that formed in the pit of his stomach at the thought of hurting his Light—which was ridiculous! L was almost certain Light was Kira! And not only that, what with the things Light could do and his psychological profile he was no doubt also behind the recent disappearances as well—in fact it was highly probable that he _burned those men to death!_ L tried to remember that every time he found himself swooning over his suspect—like he was right now. L stared his opaque stare, admiring how the setting sun really brought out that secret fire in Light's eyes. Light really was beautiful… but also a monster in every sense of the word.

L was suddenly jolted out of his thoughts when Light suddenly bolted away.

_"Light!"_

It all happened so fast! After the shock wore off L was able to piece together what happened. Ahead of them a young girl had stepped off the curb, into traffic. In a flurry of motion almost too fast for the eye to track Light leapt after her, snatching hold of the child and leaping out of the way just before they could be struck by the oncoming bus. It was a near miss so close that the fabric of Light's shirt caught on something—if he didn't possess that _demonic strength_ he might have still been dragged under the bus, but instead only his shirt tore open in its passing.

 _"Light-kun!"_ L snapped out of his state of shock to run over and grab Light by the shoulders.

Light looked just as terrified as L felt—or maybe it was something else. L noticed how Light shook slightly before he composed himself. The detective tried to make sense of the shadows on his face.

 _"What were you thinking?"_ L demanded after ascertaining that Light and the child were indeed alright. Light was asking himself the same question, trying to calculate his own madness. Because that was obviously what that was—temporary insanity. Seeing someone get run over—it was the first death he ever witnessed firsthand. And the girl… she looked like Sayu when she was very young. Could it really have been as simple as that? A stupid emotional response?

 _"You could have been killed!"_ Ryuuzaki continued to shout at him.

Light doubted it, what with his godlike demon powers, but still it was worrying. Using his body as a meat-shield was exactly the thing he said he _wouldn't_ do. It's was just instinct kind of took over… and that was kind of scary. Light took a calming breath and gave Ryuuzaki his best reassuring smile but Ryuuzaki remained unimpressed.

"Sorry, Ryuuzaki," Light began somewhat sheepishly. "I know that was reckless. I'm sorry that I scared you…"

L huffed and then just resumed staring at him in what Light was beginning to recognize as Ryuuzaki's you-didn't- _really_ -scare-me pose: his expression would become even blanker than usual and he would stare as if he was trying to dissect him with his eyes. That was the kind of dumb rookie move he'd expect of well, someone around Light's age… like _Matsuda._ But Light was supposed to be smarter than that!

"It was _stupid!_ "

Light immediately bristled. "Would you prefer that I had done nothing? She would have died! If you have the power to save a life—shouldn't you do it?"

 _If you have the power…_

_Kira…_

_Yes, he saved an innocent life. But one good deed does not excuse all that Kira has done or change what Light is! If anything his actions now prove the profile... Light, Kira—he's playing God with people's lives. You'd save them or kill them **on a whim!**_

L leveled Light a stare filled with rare anger "Dammit, Light! The cost is too high if it means losing you!" The detective blurted out and was immediately surprised by his own reaction. Why should he care what happened to Kira? (Except that Kira and his Light were no doubt one and the same.) He was only playing a part! Kira was his enemy! He was never supposed to see Light as his friend let alone his _lover!_

 _This sort of thing seems to happen all too frequently around Light-kun. I can only think he's having some sort of… influence on me. I don't feel like myself around him. Kira can control people's actions and he's probably controlling me. Did he somehow rewrite my personality without my knowledge or consent?_

"R-Ryuuzaki…" L watched in wonderment as his suspect blushed and looked almost bashful at L's outburst. "I-I don't think I was in any great danger, really… maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Well," Light said dropping his voice "my ability to heal is one power I haven't tested extensively—for obvious reasons…"

Meanwhile the girl Light saved clung to his leg, crying. L crouched down to her eyelevel and addressed her "Hello there," the detective began, gently "Do you know where your family is?"

The girl hid behind Light, shouting " _Badman!_ "

L winced. _That hurt._ He knew most people saw him as a freak, but he always prided himself on being good with kids and furthermore _he_ wasn't the monster here! L resisted the urge to shrink in on himself in the face of the condemning eyes of the crowd. For a fearful moment L was afraid someone was going to accuse him of being a pedophile or something.

Then it dawned on L that there was an obvious reason for the girl's reaction—he had been shouting...

"No, he's okay. I promise," Light assured her. "Ryuuzaki is a very nice man. He was just scared."

"Haruka!" A woman cried and ran to claim the child.

"Mommy, _I was so scared!_ " The child cried but her mother seemed to ignore her once her gaze fell on Light, taking in his handsome face and his torn shirt that revealed his bare, delicious chest.

L watched on in disgust. _Yes, parent of the year, that one._ The detective felt a stab of discomfort, quickly giving way to anger and hatred as the woman continued devouring Light with her eyes. _HIS_ Light! L swallowed. He had never felt this strongly towards another person. It was like… it was like he had just found the world's best tasting cake and he didn't want to share and anyone who tried to steal what was his would get a fork stabbed through their hand. It took the top detective far longer than it should have to realize that what he was feeling was _jealousy._

The girl piped in "He saved me, mommy!"

Unnoticed by L his thumb began bleeding as he worried it between his teeth as he watched that woman forcefully pressing herself up against _his_ Light. Light looked distinctly uncomfortable as the woman began pushing her cleavage up again his arm.

"Hi," the woman breathed out slowly. "I'm Sango."

Seemingly out of nowhere more women appeared to Light's great discomfort—seeing as they were just as grabby.

"I'm Usaagi."

"I'm Yori."

"Dibs."

"No way, he's mine!"

"Hey, I saw him first!"

Light shot L a pleading look _"Help!"_

L decided that he could be gracious enough to take pity on Light's plight "Excuse me ladies, but I'm afraid I really must be stealing back my boyfriend." L tried to punctuate this by possessively grabbing Light away from those… _harpies._

"Your boyfr—?" The women all stood around in shock. L looked to Light, he feared he crossed the line there but Light seemed relieved.

"Thanks –" He began when they were all interrupted when a large, balding man lurched onto the scene.

_"What are you doing, you bitch!"_

"Sa-Satoru?" Sango paled as her husband forced his way through the crowd. Before anyone could react the man snagged a hold of a very surprised Light in a forceful kiss. Light pushed hard against him at about the same time L kicked him in the shin. The man went flying. Light and L grabbed each other's hand and they both made a break for it… and Light took one look at Ryuuzaki's running, the awkward, jerky motions and at the mob gaining on them and promptly grabbed the other man and flung him over his shoulder, ignoring all of Ryuuzaki's indignant protests. Light turned a corner, unfurled his wings and took off, flying at a frenzied pace as if all the fiends of Hell were after him.

L tried to suppress his surmounting terror as Light flew them frantically over the rooftops, his powerful red batwings snapping out repeatedly in a series of frenzied flapping. He was again completely at Kira's mercy—if Light chose to drop him he would surely die and even if Light didn't have malicious intent his current "flying" could still very well be the death of both of them. In a panicked moment L considered trying his luck at leaping for one of the rooftops below but even if he somehow managed to reach his target he'd be lucky to get away with just breaking every bone in his body and so L held on for dear life. Sensing Ryuuzaki's distress by the way his fingernails dug into his back Light forced himself to calm down and settled into a more relaxed glide. But even after Light stopped the airborne equivalent of a rollercoaster ride he could still feel Ryuuzaki's heart hammering against his chest and the barely heard whimpering mantra of _"Please… don't let me go!"_

Light frowned. Of course he would never drop Ryuuzaki; he had him secured against him with his claws and tail.

"I won't," Light replied softly but his words were no doubt lost to the wind and Ryuuzaki continued to burrow his face into Light's chest.

Light rode on an updraft taking him further up into the darkening sky and was treated to a view of the glittering cityscape below.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Light shouted to be heard over the roaring wind.

L slowly opened his eyes which had been squeezed shut in terror to see the beautiful and terrifying sight of the towers of Tokyo becoming little more than toys far, far below.

"Yes, yes it is beautiful but Light-kun… Light, can we land… _please?_ Before I am forced to be sick on you?"

L squeezed tighter as Light dove down and veered to the left. He landed or rather skidded to a stop, his claws raking the roof of a derelict building. L fell to his knees; his fingers gripped lovingly at the beautiful, beautiful ground. Light crouched next to L, his hand stroking soothingly along his back.

"I'm sorry. I really should have seen that coming."

L looked at Light in confusion. "Seen what coming?" _The kid trying to get run over? The crazy women? The **crazy husband?** Or that I'm afraid of… no I'm not afraid of heights. That's totally irrational. What I have is a perfectly sensible fear of falling to my death. Not even I could have predicted something like this series of unfortunate events._

"All of it!" Light snapped in frustration. "I'm… I'm sorry. I just… _really_ wanted to take you out!"

L moved in close and caressed Light's cheek.

"We're still out."

Light looked up in surprise. After everything that happened, he was sure that Ryuuzaki would want nothing more to do with him. Ryuuzaki smiled reassuringly and Light found himself smiling back

"You're right. The night's still young, so where did you want to go?"

L's eyes lit up "I think I saw a candy shop on the way over here!" Leave it to L to notice every sweetshop in town even in a moment of mortal peril. It was like his radar, or rather his L-dar

Light smiled "Alright, I'll take you there!"

L gulped when Light spread his wings again, not even the promise of candy could quell L's anxiety about flying. The detective surreptitiously looked around, stalling for something which would delay the inevitable.

"Er… As much as I love to see him shirtless, perhaps Light-kun should pick up a shirt or something…" L was really grasping at straws because surely they'd have to go out to do that too. The detective was well aware that they'd have to leave the roof _sometime_ and L doubted that going through the derelict building would be any safer.

"You know," L added, "to avoid a repeat of… _that._ " The raven again felt a churning in his gut at the thought of those people touching his Light. L was very confused by these feelings.

 _Why did all those people have to...? No. It's perfectly understandable. Light is a very attractive young man. He just "heroically" saved a little girl maybe it was a bit over the top (and mentally scarring) but it's perfectly natural to see why he'd be attractive… well except for the married man but then I don't know his history. Perhaps baldy Satoru is bi or in the closet. It's not outside the realm of possibility. The only thing I know for sure is that if I ever see Satoru do that to my Light again I'm going to break him._ L sighed as he tried to gain control of his darkening thoughts. _This only proves Light could have anyone he wants! So why does he lov—why is he so infatuated with me?_

"Oh right. Just a sec!" Light announced, unaware of L's current brooding.

There was a reason Light picked this roof. The demon moved a couple of bricks in the wall to reveal a hidden compartment. Light pulled out a gym bag.

Upon seeing Ryuuzaki's questioning look Light quickly explained "It's mine. I had this set up in case of an emergency…" Light produced a grey hoodie from the bag. It wasn't nearly as nice as the dress shirt that got destroyed but it would be easier to move unnoticed among the humans. "Oh, did you want anything, Ryuuzaki?" Light asked before he turned away to get dressed.

L wondered in bemusement what sort of emergency Light was prepared for seeing how the bag contained a change of clothes, a couple of bottles of water, and a bag of potato chips. The detective picked up the bag of chips, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. Of course he had noticed how Light ate potato chips with great enthusiasm when he had him under surveillance…

"How can anyone enjoy eating something that tastes so salty?" the sweet-toothed detective wondered aloud as Light slipped into the grey hoodie.

Light smirk was hidden within the folds of the fabric as he pulled his hoodie over his head. "Well, you seemed to enjoy it."

When Light finished getting dressed and turned back around his smirk turned into a mischievous grin when he saw how Ryuuzaki's face had flushed with color again.


	15. No Escape

L's eyes lit up in delight as he gazed hungrily, his face pressed up against the large plastic tubes that held a rainbow of assorted candies: gummy bears, sharks, and worms, peppermints, lollipops, jolly ranchers, warheads, gumballs, and licorice. The detective drooled, ignoring the disapproving stares to grab a fistful of gummy worms to add to his ever-expanding bag.

Light hovered protectively nearby; looking clearly uncomfortable as his heightened senses were assaulted by the sounds of screaming children and the nauseating smell of sugar, but he hid it well. L only noticed Light's discomfort because he was the three best detectives in the world.

 _Well, good._ L wasn't exactly comfortable with suddenly being forced up to 30,000 feet either. When they finally landed on solid ground L's heart was hammering in his chest so hard he feared it would burst. Light had then held him against his chest until he was steady on his feet again, stroking his back, and making soothing noises. He had apologized profusely, claiming he didn't realize that flying would frighten him so. L wondered how anyone could possibly _forget_ something like that. Did it really just slip his mind? L mused that Light's apology had seemed real enough however the detective never claimed not to be petty… L winced too as another young child screeched nearby. Honestly, he didn't like going out much either. The noise-level was atrocious. Naturally, he was only here for the candy...

L frowned as he saw how more people tried to flirt with Light much to Light's _obvious_ discomfort. Many people were giving them odd looks especially since Light had rebuffed the advances of many girls in the space of a few minutes. L felt a dangerous surge of jealousy as he noticed how a couple of men were giving Light the eye. Getting candy and making Light uncomfortable suddenly took a backseat to L's new goal of 'getting the hell out of here as soon as possible...'

As they waited in line to checkout they got stuck behind an old lady who was buying the store "for her grandkids" somehow lugging around even more candy than L (both genii had to admit, it was an impressive feat), ringing up a huge price. Light just hoped that they could be out of there soon; the children's shrieking was giving him an earsplitting headache. In front of them the elderly lady opened her purse and attempted to pay in pennies.

Meanwhile L's frown deepened when it seemed that Light had given up on speaking to his train of admirers, and seemed to be trying to just ignore them by staring determinedly at the wall. Something twisted in his gut when Light didn't look his way either. His boyfri— _suspect_ probably feared a repeat of earlier but it still hurt that… L abruptly stopped that train of thought, and took a bite out of his oversized rainbow lollipop as he pondered…

 _What if Light has this effect on everyone?_

As they waited in line the intensity of the children's temper tantrums intensified in volume. Light suddenly fall to his knees, his eyes squeezed shut, and his hands over his ears.

"Light!" L shouted. The detective dropped his candy and rushed to his side. He almost seemed to be having some kind of seizure. At the same time one of the men who had been giving Light the eye, a creepy looking older guy, stepped in, revealing himself to be an opportunist predator as he declared "Son! Let's get you home!" No doubt with the intention of spiriting the teen off to his black van...

"What do you think you're doing?" L demanded.

"Get your hands off my son you ugly freak!" The stranger thundered. "I'm taking my son home!"

L's spine cracked as he drew up himself to his full height, his manner was cold, powerful, and deadly serious. It was just the vaguest hint at his true identity as L—the most powerful force for Law Enforcement on the planet. It gave the stranger pause.

"No, you're not his father! _I, personally, know his father_ from our work the _National Police Agency!_ So whatever you had planned to do to _my friend_ I would strongly recommend you not see it through."

Meanwhile the room had become hushed as the children had been dragged out by their parents or stopped screaming to watch the clash of the two adults.

The man sputtered "No way, man! There's no way _someone like you_ is a cop!"

"I'm undercover," L stated blandly as he again found his lollipop. "Now if you'll excuse me my friend needs medical attention. Get out of my way or I will be forced to arrest you. There's still time for your name to show up on the 6 o'clock news."

The man paled and then made a mad dash out the door.

"Ryuu—Ryuuzaki?"

L released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I'm right here, Light. C'mon, let's get out of here."

That they knew each other seemed to satisfy the bystanders. L rolled his eyes when they tittered on in the background about what they had seen:

"Do you think they're _together?_ " a girl loudly whispered.

"I-I thought they said they were just friends," said a round-faced girl in blue blocker glasses.

"He didn't use honorifics!"

Another squealed "Do you really think they're lovers?"

"Ha, fags!"

"Maybe he's just a foreigner."

Embarrassed, Light quickly got to his feet—too quickly. The demon belatedly realized he might still have an inner ear problem from all the screaming. He wobbled a bit but then Ryuuzaki was there. They desperately clung to each other as L guided them out the door.

"Ngh! But… your candy!"

"We can get it later, Light."

At the moment L was more concerned about Light… er, his suspect. _Well,_ L rationalized, _if he dies on me I'll never find out how he kills..._

"Are you alright, Light-kun?" L asked with genuine concern.

"I'm fine Ryuuzaki."

"Then care to tell me what happened in there?" _Why didn't you… You should have told me you were in pain!_ L stopped and reanalyzed that thought. Did he really expect Light, Kira, to act against his very personality just because they were sleeping together? Well why the hell not? It seemed to be happening to him!

"Perhaps we should visit the clinic now…?" L began as he looked into Light's eyes for any signs of trauma. This task was made more difficult when Light's eyes flashed red for a moment.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't _that bad…_ " Light insisted, attempting to salvage his pride.

"Obviously it was or you wouldn't be doubled-over in pain."

"Ryuuzaki, I'm fine!"

L gave him a look and the demon fidgeted.

" It's just…"

"Just what?" L pressed.

Just ever since becoming a demon everything was so much sharper, so much clearer—his heightened senses couldn't cope with all the stimuli.

"It was just a bit loud in there, that's all. But I really am fine now."

"Really?" L asked skeptically.

"Trust me?" Light asked with a doe-eyed expression.

The edges of L's lips curled upward in amusement and L patted Light on the back as if they were both in on a private joke. " _Sure,_ I trust you Light."

Light pouted when he detected Ryuuzaki's note of sarcasm.

 _He does have a weakness. Then when we move in to arrest him…_ It seemed inordinately cruel but it would be necessary with Light's superhuman abilities…

But the thought of arresting Light… of _hurting_ Light made L very sad.

 _Dammit, it's my job to… No, Light is far too dangerous to give up to the normal police! With his abilities what prison could hold him? I suppose we could keep him alive in a medically induced coma but that's assuming that drugs would even work on him. Besides there's another issue—once I've captured him everyone is going to want Kira's power. They'd do anything to get it out of him and then instead of dealing with one Kira we could end up with dozens in a new arms race… No, to protect the world only I can be Kira's jailer. In any case I'm getting ahead of myself. I still have to figure out how to stop him first. Yeah, maybe he'll stop killing if I ask him nicely._ But then from the looks Light kept sending him… _I would never have thought it but… just maybe, if I play my cards right; that might just be within the realm of possibility..._

Light squeezed L's hand reassuringly and the detective smiled.

"Come on, Light-kun. Let's go someplace more quiet…"

The younger man grunted in agreement.

"I guess this means I can never take you to a rock concert," the detective stated with barely contained amusement.

"It wasn't so bad," Light lied transparently.

L covertly looked Light over. He did seem to be doing alright, though the detective noticed that his lov—suspect looked a bit down. Well of course L had rightfully pegged Light ( _Kira_ ) as a prideful bastard from the very beginning. To Kira humiliation would be worse than any injury, maybe even worse than death… That's why he knew his trap with Lind L. Tailor would work. It was another weakness that could be exploited…

L put a hand on Light's shoulder, seamlessly slipped back into playing the part of Light's concerned boyfriend.

"You know what always cheers me up? _Cake!_ " L nearly whimpered that last word as he was hit with sugar withdrawal. He was now sorely regretting leaving that big bag of candy behind.

"That's right! I still owe you a cake, don't I? I know just the place…" Light led L to his favorite café which had been his initial objective from the start of this fiasco—they made good coffee there and Sayu had spoken highly of their desert menu, and (perhaps most importantly) the booths were partitioned with huge planters which should give them plenty of privacy—that was important for both of them.

But, just before they were seated, L successfully got Light to leave him alone for a minute and go clean up in the bathroom when he pointed out the gross, sticky candy that had stuck fast to Light's shirt.

"Huh, it must have got stuck there when you collapsed..."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll go clean it up!"

Of course, Light was sure he would have noticed that candy beforehand. It hadn't been there before. L knew Light knew too, that it was a slight of hand trick courtesy of a certain smirking detective. L also knew he would have to act fast…

As soon as L was sure Light was in the restroom he retrieved his cellphone from his jeans pocket, making use of this Light-free time to get in contact with Watari.

"Ryuuzaki, is everything alright?" The old man's voice was laden with concern. "The video just cut out while you two were talking…"

"I figured as much when you didn't try to contact me…" L spoke into the cellphone which he held up to his ear between just two fingers.

"Did something happen? We wanted to call you but we were worried about blowing your cover..."

"Thank you, I appreciate it. Yes, something did happen but it was for the best. I made some discoveries and…Watari? Have you… _have you been drinking?"_

Watari was very good at hiding, well anything. After all, L had learned almost everything from him. But the top three detectives in the world still managed to detect the slight slurring of speech. There was an awkward pause before his caretaker tried to assure him "No need to worry, sir. I'm recording this phone call."

_Dammit, that's not the issue! Watari is drunk! That's… that's very unlike him. Is there something he's not telling me? This is… troubling to say the least._

"What is it you wanted to…?"

That's right, it was important to use this time to relay what he had learned…

"I-I made some discoveries…" the detective began and then stopped. It was on the tip of his tongue but for some reason the words jut wouldn't come out. This brought back L's concern (that never really left) that Kira was controlling him somehow…

"L?" Watari prompted after an awkward pause.

But in any case would they really _believe_ him if he just told them that Light was a mutant, or a monster, or a self-proclaimed "demon?" Well, Watari would give him the benefit of a doubt but as for the others…

"I'll show you later. Light has agreed to it himself. He's given me permission to give him a full physical work up…"

"What are you doing right now?"

"I'm on a date with Light."

There was another impossibly long and awkward pause. "Do you want extraction?"

Just then the waitress arrived and put L's cup of earl grey and the sugar bowl in front of him. The detective morosely stared into the depths of his tea cup.

"Negative, I'm in too deep to consider that."

There was another awkward pause. "Understood."

"I can keep him distracted for at least the next five hours. Is that enough time for Wedy to install the cameras?"

Watari sighed "I understand that Aiber has hit a bit of a snag in his negotiations but… we'll try."

"Thank you, I appreciate it… I've got to go." L spirited his cellphone back into his pocket just as the bathroom door flew open and Light made his way back to their table.

Light smiled brightly upon seeing Ryuuzaki (not wanting to burden Ryuuzaki with his trauma of having been hit on again in the men's room.) His lover looked so cute and innocent as he played with his sugar cubes.

"Anyway, like I was saying before…" Light continued their conversation as if they hadn't been interrupted as if he believed nothing was more important than what he had to say. L mused it was a very Kira-like trait.

"…This is my favorite coffee shop. It's nice and quiet and there's no chance of anyone bothering us…"

"Hi, Light!" Yamamoto called from across the restaurant.

L sighed "You had to say it, didn't you?"

Both genii inwardly groaned as Light's friends immediately locked onto them like a barrage of heat-seeking missiles.

***

Meanwhile across from the door a certain blonde paused in mid-bite of her strawberry sundae when she saw the inhumanly handsome young man with no lifespan enter the restaurant. Kira, her hero— _her savior!_ And he was _right there!_ What a stroke of good fortune! Now she wouldn't even have to risk sending those tapes!

The young woman swooned when she saw Kira, whose name was… was that Tsuki Yagami? What a cool name!

 _Who would have thought Kira would be so young and handsome!_ The blonde thought giddily.

Misa was feeling overwhelmed. It took all of her willpower to just get up and leave. She very much wanted to throw herself at the beautiful man right then and there (the compulsion to do so was very strong) but (contrary to popular belief) Misa wasn't that stupid. Besides, there were already many girls acting like idiots around him and he completely blew them off! She didn't want that to happen to her. Misa-Misa wanted to make a good first impression! (And, just in case, Misa memorized each of the girl's names. Any girl that got between her and her God was in for an unfortunate accident in the very near future…)

"You finally found him and you're just going to leave?" asked a deep, melodic voice that only she could hear. Misa turned slightly and regarded the white Shinigami that always shadowed her. Rem's purple lips had parted in bemusement revealing the barest hint of fangs. (The effect was very cute.)

"Well I can't just walk up to him and go 'Hi Kira, nice to meet you!' with all these people around!" Misa explained in her usual bubbly tone. "I know his name now. I can easily find out _all about him!_ " Misa declared as she skipped on home to prepare for her meeting with her future husband.


	16. A Lovely Outing

L poked morosely at his cake as more of Light's friends surrounded their table. It was a bit irksome. This was supposed to be their date!

 _Which,_ L reminded himself; _I only agreed to go on for the sake of the investigation! What should I care who Kira socializes with?_

As the crowd swooned over Light, L mused miserably _Perhaps I should rethink my strategy about capture—Light obviously has a frightening level of personal charm, **charisma,** that his… followers would probably gladly kill for him or die for him should he but ask. Whatever course I must take in this I can't expose him publicly—it would be a bloodbath! That means… I have to do it. When the time comes I have to keep Light… Hmmm… perhaps even Light wouldn't find that too terrible after he gets over losing of course. Kira hates to lose..._

"Where have you been hiding, Light? I haven't seen you in ages!" Yamamoto enthused as he crowded into the booth next to Light and several other people—some friends, some acquaintances, and some strangers crowded around Light and L's table.

Light, admittedly, missed being the center of attention after his self-imposed exile of several months and they were acting civil enough at the moment…

As L listened to how Light was really laying it on thick; spinning a dramatic tale about how he had been deathly ill with a wasting disease and so sadly couldn't hang out with any of them—if the detective had any doubts before they were gone now as he watched the very definition of a master manipulator in his natural environment. L knew all this and yet he was still somehow drawn in by the spell Light was weaving...

"…but I'm feeling a bit better today" Light finished his harrowing tale and then politely fake-coughed into the palm of his hand.

L rolled his eyes. "Light-kun is such a drama queen."

Several sets of eyes turned on him-most looking annoyed if not outright _hostile._

Light cleared his throat. "Everyone this is Ryuuzaki, my roommate and… a very good friend of mine."

Light added when he saw how Yamamoto was about to say something rude and disparaging. His mouth quickly clamped closed. Meanwhile more people crowded around their table like flies to honey.

"...b-but we have class in ten minutes! We can't be late!" hissed a long-haired man wearing glasses and a trench coat. He tapped pointedly at his watch as he was dragged by the wrist over to Light and L's table by a smartly dressed woman with short dark hair. Light saw her and went pale.

 _Dammit! Not Kiyomi Takada!_

Takada was one of the most persistant of his admirers. Light thought he made it clear the last time he saw her that he wanted to focus on "studying" right now… but for some reason Takada seemed to think they were betrothed or something.

"Oh Light, this is…" Yamamoto began introducing the "strangers."

"Teru -senpai?" Light exclaimed in surprise when he realized he recognized the man that accompanied Takada.

"Yagami-kun?"

Yamamoto's head comically whipped between both of them in surprise. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"I'm surprised you remember me," Teru looked bashfully down at his feet.

"How could I forget?" Light said softly.

L paused mid-bite of eating his cake when he heard how Light's voice was laden with genuine emotion and felt an irrational surge of jealousy when Light reached over and shook Mikami's hand.

 _Me? Jealous? Of course not. That's absurd…_ (He had plenty to be jealous of already with the way everyone in the room, this Teru-guy included was looking at his boyfrie—… suspect.)

L glared at Mikami.

_Just what is between them? Is he competition? Or an ex-boyfriend? Or…?_

L made a mental note to thoroughly investigate this man—there was just something about him that made the stoical detective's skin crawl (maybe there was even a Kira connection?)

Takada loudly cleared her throat demanding to be the center of attention. "Yagami-kun, what a pleasant surprise! It seems you've already met my boyfriend, Teru..." Takada smiled nastily.

"B-boyfriend? Since when?" Mikami cringed in pain when Takada stomped on his foot with one of her expensive and elegant high-heeled shoes.

There was more cringing among the witnesses as it was painfully obvious even to the non-genii in the room that Takada was just trying to make Light jealous...

"Oh? Congratulations…" Light nodded to her slightly and sipped at his coffee—and that was all the reaction he would give her and so Takada turned a snobbish eye towards Ryuuzaki.

"You know, I never expected to see you in the company of someone like _that,_ Yagami-kun."

Light narrowed his eyes "Someone like _what?_ "

"Why that queer man sitting with you of course!" Takada sniffed. "Did he escape a mental institution or a zoo?"

Before L could reply Light had shot up. He was glowered at Takada, sitting in a feral crouch that mirrored L's.

_This woman!_

Of course Light knew what he could do to leave her speechless and get rid of her once and for all…

 _I can trust Yamamoto and Mikami with this. In fact Yamamoto no doubt knows already what with that one time… Of course Takada and all these idiots. They'll tell everyone but realistically can I expect to keep this hidden? What with EVERYONE chasing after me?_

Ryuuzaki's question gnawed at him _"Why do you hide?"_ By being so secretive and appearing to be so flawless he wasn't doing himself any favors of not looking like Kira. If a background was too perfect like his was that might raise more red flags than a criminal record. The investigators would no doubt want to see a human "flaw." It would give them all something else to focus on—and _he_ didn't consider it a "flaw…" Light glanced around the table at his train of admirers—all these idiots around him—did he really care what any of them thought?

_It's my New World—only my opinion is valid. I'm okay with what I am._

It was wearing him out playing obedient son and perfect student while carrying so many secrets. It would be a relief to relinquish one of them—especially since he wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

 _I'm an adult now and God of the New World. Either dad will accept it or not. I'm tired of hiding it._

"Actually I lied before. Ryuuzaki isn't my friend…"

Takada looked relieved and L dropped his spoon in shock. Light reached across the table and clasped L's hand in his.

"He's my boyfriend."

Light decided that come what may it was totally worth it for the look of fury on Takada's face. But she was only an afterthought after the way Ryuuzaki almost seemed to swoon as Light glanced at him with bedroom eyes and Light knew he had made the right choice.

"Wow," one of the girls gasped.

"Congratulations!" Yamamoto enthused.

All around them girls groaned in disappointment while others tittered in excitement.

Light froze. He had never seen Ryuuzaki blushing so red. He hoped it was okay.

L was surprised-he never considered that Light would purposely out himself (out _them_ ) like this.

"I see. Light-kun is defending my honor. How noble…" L murmured caustically.

 _No, how Kira-like._ This was just like the Lind L. Tailor incident. This woman had insulted him, yes but in doing so she had also insulted _Light_ and so she was going down—very childish really—but also very satisfying.

L never claimed not to be childish too.

Meanwhile Takada shrieked at Light, calling him every name ever written on a bathroom stall and knocking over the contents of their table with a sweeping gesture of her hand. Mikami restrained the shrieking harpy before she could attack either of the booth's occupants at which point she turned her wrath on him, slapping him in the face. Takada shouted some more obscenities and, red-faced, she stormed out of the coffee shop.

Mikami quickly and deeply apologized on Takada's behalf and followed her out. While he found her behavior just now to be appalling she was one of his few friends. Also after reuniting with his old friend (who had become an attractive young man that preferred the company of men… ) who was obviously already very happy and very _taken_ —he best leave before he did something… _evil._

"Well, so much for "refined" Takada" Yamamoto quipped, but then he saw how Light seemed to have doubled-over in pain. "Hey buddy, are you alright?"

Takada's screaming was bad enough but then there was something else—ever since Takada threw her tantrum…

"I-I can't move!"

What's worse was his body was trying to revert to its true form.

 _No, not here! Not now!_

Light grimaced as tendrils of fear worked their way into his being.

L gaped at his lover in surprise—Light looked… _scared._

"Light-kun!" Ryuuzaki bolted right over the top of the table, his bare foot sliding on and breaking the line of salt that had formed when Takada knocked over the salt shaker.

…And then whatever had overtaken Light had passed as quickly as it had come.

 _What **was** that? Weird…_ Were there more weird changes happening to his body? He was freakish enough as is! Light was thoroughly disturbed by the prospect of mutating further. Light could only hope that whatever it was it didn't happen again...

"Are you alright?" Ryuuzaki asked with some concern as he absentmindedly stroked Light's back.

"Y-yeah." Light still sounded really shaken.

L forcefully parted Light's train of admirers declaring "C'mon let's get out of here."

 _That's the second time something like this happened tonight? Light-kun…_ L's thought process was interrupted when he absentmindedly licked some grains of sugar stuck to his fingers (in a motion ingrained in L's muscle memory) and made a face, only afterwards realizing it wasn't sugar... 

_Salt?_

The detective looked around and spied how the salt shaker must have rolled on the table-top and then the floor creating a circle-like pattern.

 _A circle of salt…_

Of course L was aware of the folklore. On a recent case L had stopped a cult that was killing virgins with the ultimate goal being that they might summon a demon. The cultists had firmly believed that a little circle of salt could contain one.

 _No, that's completely absurd! Light is not a demon! Such a thing does not exist!_ The detective absolutely refused to believe in something that defied logic (at least until he ruled out all other possibilities…) _Perhaps whatever mutation Light has had occurred before and maybe it correlates with a salt allergy and this created the mythology…_ However one piece of information poked a hole in L's allergy theory.

 _But Light likes potato chips...He isn't adverse to salt—just a ring of salt. That doesn't make any kind of logical sense unless… What if he really is…?_ L shook his head as if to clear it. _I need to do that examination. He isn't. Light just thinks he's a demon. He called himself a… consciously or unconsciously Light-kun has no doubt just internalized…_

_Of course. He's overcompensating!_

The detective thought with a knowing smirk as his profiling skills kicked into high gear.

_Subconsciously Light sees himself as flawed and so he projects an image of perfection to convince himself and others that he is in fact perfect. Kira tries to eliminate evil in the world because he can't cope with it in himself. He can't accept that he is flawed, that he is wrong, and so he projects his flaws onto the world... But just now he just accepted that he wasn't what society views as "perfect."_

_So what does that mean?_

_For Kira? For the case? For us?_

_What changed?_

L worried at his thumb as he realized. _It's me. He accepts me though I'm flawed. That means I can change him!_

L cringed even as he thought it. It sounded so stupid. Like the declaration of some lovestruck hybristophiliac.

_Change Kira? Please! Kira is like me—he'd sooner die than lose!_

L stole a glance at his beloved nemesis as they exited the café. Light still looked plenty shaken though he hid it well.

"Light-kun, what was that?"

"I don't know."

"Light-kun…" L began but stopped. Even if he knew the real cause what were the odds that Light would just tell him? But maybe Light would answer that other pressing question: "Light-kun… Why did you tell them? About us?"

Light looked at Ryuuzaki incredulously.

"You expected me to just sit there and listen to her insult you?"

"Well, yes… I mean; this… I imagine it was harmful to your reputation and..."

_"Ryuuzaki!"_

L froze as Light grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "I'm not ashamed of you and if they're really my friends they'll stand by my decision," Light smiled grimly as he added "Yes, I think it's clear now who our friends are—Yamamoto and Mikami are our friends, and Takada is not."

"Mikami…"

Light heard L almost growl out the word, like it was something vile.

"You're… _jealous?_ "

L fumed as Light threw his head back and laughed.

"Ah, Ryuuzaki, it's nothing like that! No, it's just… he's an old friend of mine is all."

"Really? You sounded very _taken_ with him," L asked suspiciously.

Light glared in annoyance but Ryuuzaki was unrelenting in his questioning. Light finally confessed. "He saved my life in grade school."

"Wha-?"

"…Repeatedly. It's not like I was special or anything. He did that for everyone."

 _"Why would… what…?"_ L was flabbergasted. He was under the impression that his suspect lived a perfect life. But then didn't he just determine that it was a lie? Why should this be so surprising?

"I wasn't always a popular teenage heart throb, you know," Light smiled at the flummoxed detective. "No, I was the nerdy kid that loved school and learning, always reading ahead, always getting perfect marks, and always getting cornered in the boy's restroom... That was me… until Mikami came along. Mikami was my senpai-he is a very driven individual or at least that was true when I knew him. He could never stand injustice. He eventually got the whole school to stand up against the bullying. He's really inspired me and while I could never be like him he did show me how one person can make a difference and change things for the better," Light smiled beatifically as he added "Justice prevails."

When L noted the passionate note in his voice and how his eyes were shining with youthful idealism he felt the need to ask "Are you sure you're not in love with him?"

Light laughed again and the older man let out an embarrassing squeak when Light pulled him into a hug.

"He's not _you,_ Ryuuzaki! So you have nothing to worry about. I just told you he was my role model growing up. That's all. Well, one of many. There was my father of course… and L."

The detective froze with a deer in the headlights look on his face _"What?"_

Light shot Ryuuzaki a coy smirk. "You know I want to be a detective one day. Why shouldn't I admire the greatest detective in the world?" Light chuckled again and shook his head. "Yes, it was always my dream growing up. To meet L, to work with him," Light sighed wistfully as he knowingly confessed his feelings to the real L. "I always imagined I could be a great help—that we could catch many bad guys together."

L looked pointedly at his feet, his pallid cheeks flushed with color. Of course he couldn't acknowledge the compliment without giving himself away. L felt a surge of relief at Light's assurance that he only had feelings for him but that relief was mixed with shame that his very existence had a hand in shaping what Kira would become.

"It was?"

"Mmm Hmmm?" Light hummed in his ear.

" _Was._ Past tense. It _was_ your dream. What changed, Light-kun?"

Light realized his slip and quickly excused it with "Well…" Light lowered his voice "Well, I doubt the Great L would ever want to work with a demon like me."

L just rolled his eyes. "You're not a demon and even if you are if you are that good at detective work that L would take you as his partner I doubt it would matter."

"R-really? Thank you, Ryuuzaki."

"You shouldn't worry so much about _that_ —that is _ridiculously_ insecure! Very… _emo._ "

"I am NOT!" _If anyone here is emo it's Ryuuzaki!_

L grinned at Light's indignant reaction.

"I mean look at everything you have! A nice apartment, a family that cares about you; and Light-kun is so lucky he has such _good friends,_ " L said softly and somewhat bitterly. When L was very young he had _no one_ to save him.

Light remembered with dawning comprehension that Ryuuzaki had said he never really had a friend before.

Light squeezed his hand. "They're your friends too now."

"I-I've never really—" Ryuuzaki stammered out, easily falling into the shy college student role he was playing.

"Now who's emo?" Light murmured childishly.

"Well of course! Any friend of Light's is a friend of mine!" Yamamoto suddenly declared from behind them.

Both genii spun around in shock—it seemed Yamamoto and a train of Light's followers had followed them down the street, listening in on their conversation, hanging on every word.

"That's great Yamamoto but Ryuuzaki and I were kind of having a private moment here."

"Er… a public sidewalk isn't exactly private, you know! I just wanted to make sure you were alright, buddy… er…" Yamamoto noticed the murderous glance Light was sending them. It was terrifying enough that several of Light's stalkers turned tail and ran. "I-I guess we should be leaving now," Yamamoto stammered out as he nervously adjusted his glasses.

"Thank you, Yamamoto. You are a good friend." Light smiled sweetly and for the first time in his life L worried about getting diabetes. The detective, sick of having Light's attention diverted all throughout their "date" and very much effected by Light's sweet smile, suddenly tackled the younger man, planting wet, sloppy kisses upon his face.

Yamamoto flushed and averted his eyes. "Oi! Guys, get a room!"

"Shall we?" L asked with lust-clouded eyes.

"Hmmm?" Light mumbled his eyes taking on a distinctive crimson cast, L grinned that meant Light's so-called "demon" side was aching to come out…

"Get a hotel room?" the raven pressed.

Light just avoided frowning—he had _really_ wanted to take L out flying again but after that _incident_ his faith in his powers was still a little shaky—this sounded like a most agreeably alternative.

"Oh, definitely!" Light purred as he slowly trailed his fingers down the other man's cheek.

Of course they had a room but L didn't really want to wait to go all the way back across town but Light balked when he saw where L was leading them. "That's… that's an expensive hotel…"

L smiled. "Don't worry about it. I told you my grandfather runs a Pharmaceutical Company—he won't mind if I use his credit card."


	17. Paradise Lost

The great detective barely got the door shut to their luxury suite before a certain red, serpentine tail had wrapped possessively around his hips and he was tackled by his demon lover. L stared lustfully and appreciatively at the sight before him, apparently Light had gotten out of his clothes and transformed in record time giving L the pleasant reminder that his lover was a sexy beast.

 _"Ryuuzaki!"_ As Light pressed against him, purring out every syllable of his alias again and again, L was sorely tempted to correct him on his name—just to hear him say it. 

But he couldn't. 

L knew he was being paranoid. Logically, if Light wanted him dead he could have done so already many different times and many different ways just this evening: Light could have snapped his neck for instance or set him ablaze or dropped him from 30,000 feet or pushed into traffic—but he didn't. Indeed, his Kira suspect had showed him nothing but care and affection. However seeing how L's paranoia had saved his life countless times he had learned to trust it. And of course the world's best three detectives had a checkered past of his own (one he did not feel like sharing even under pain of death) and he had his own reasons for concealing his name. He did it long before the Kira case and he wasn't about to blurt it out now just because lately he'd found himself thinking with the wrong head.

Light helped give L support when he suddenly felt himself becoming weak at the knees against the burning fire of the younger man's stare and he knew he was _wanted_ —it felt good to feel _wanted,_ to know that Light desired him just as badly. That fire burned just as bright even when Light's eyes became hooded as he leaned into his lover. The detective gave a deep trill of delight as Light licked along his lower lip with that sinfully sibilant tongue entreating for entrance to his mouth. He eagerly parted his lips, letting Light slip inside and they became engaged in the most amazing battle of tongues. The things Light could do with that forked tongue of his! L was sure the only reason he could keep up was through his long hours of practice of tying knots in cherry stems. L moaned into his mouth when that bifurcated tongue gave a little twirl, moving against his own and L's dick throbbed within the constraint of his jeans. He regretfully broke away, needing to come up for air. 

As Light kept pawing and tugging at him, L swiftly threw off his own borrowed sweater before Light destroyed it in his eagerness—L had admittedly grown a bit attached to Light's sweater by virtue that it was Light's and the demon's pleasant scent still lingered in the fabric as he wore it and even after the sun had set and a chill had crept in the air he had felt warm and protected. Perhaps he could persuade Light to let him keep it... sentimentalities aside the detective really wanted to have it analyzed. That aroma... it seemed _important_ somehow. (If nothing else he could find out what type of cologne Light used.) Once L managed to get the sweater up and over his head he couldn't help but resume his staring at Light, his beautiful monster, L's breath caught in his throat at the sight of all those lean muscles, and the younger man's proudly flagging erection. He couldn't wait to feel it all again. 

L smirked playfully as he pushed Light down onto the bed. Light wore a matching smirk when he retaliated. The detective let out an amusing, undignified squeak when Light wrapped his tail around the other man's hips in a constricting embrace and dragged him down onto the bed with him. 

L let out a harsh gasp as Light roughly pulled down his baggy jeans and pressed flush against him, pressing their erections together. Together they stroked each other up and down; their hands forming a tight, warm tunnel for them to both thrust into. L let himself get lost in the divine feeling of that tight warmth and of Light' penis gliding against his own. He felt the slickness before he saw what it was. The detective opened hooded eyes to watched in bile fascination how his lover's demon body became slick as he produced his own natural lubricants. By all rights it should have been gross but for some reason L found it to be incredibly hot. 

Light groaned when, on impulse, L bent over (ignoring the aches of his poor abused spine) and tasted Light with a little cat-like flick of his tongue. From his readings on the subject L imagined Light to be much better tasting than that of a human—the demon flesh was pleasant, spicy-sweet, almost like cinnamon. Soon after L swallowed the incubus's secretions he threw his head back, writhing with need as a sudden, intense, jolt of pleasure wracked his body. He felt so good—he had never been this aroused in his life! L purred deeply and appreciatively in his soft baritone as Light moved against him, his toes curling into the sheets in anticipation as he felt that serpentine tail again slithering against his skin, up and around his thighs until it was worming it's way between his ass cheeks, slowly teasing and tempting him.

 _"Light!"_ L whined while he squirmed around, rubbing his face in the bedsheets.

"I promised I'd show you what I can do with it," Light smirked as his tail slid slowly along L's buttcrack, toying with him. "I can now if you want. I'll be gentle, I promise." 

_"Yes!"_ L hissed as he felt his body arching back trying to follow that retreating, teasing tail. "Show me!" L demanded. 

Light locked eyes with L and saw how those usually blank dark eyes were shining with lust—and something dangerously akin to _trust._

L gasped, he could feel himself slowly opening up, welcoming the invasion as the tail tip that had been slowly probing his entrance began to slip inside him—wriggling and writhing and deliciously stretching him. Meanwhile Light kept him distracted by attacking his face and neck with sloppy kisses and gentle nips, Light's fangs gliding along the surface—not quite piercing—L's porcelain skin as he kept working, sliding the tip of his tail in and out. 

All throughout they kept the pressure on, kept their erections pressed together and moving against each other, thrusting inside the tunnel of their hands. Though as Light continued to play around inside of him L's moves began to become erratic—eventually L let his hands fall away in favor of clenched hard in the bed sheets, his knuckles turning white. 

_"Light!"_

True to his word Light was gentle, perhaps maddeningly so, but L couldn't quite work up the nerve to ask Light to go faster and risk spoiling this. It felt wrong, and dirty, and _oh so good._ L gave a pleasured shout when that tail kept twitching, finally manipulating his prostate. The debauched detective gazed up at his lover in appreciation and adoration, baring his throat which the demon eagerly kissed and marked again. 

Light feared hurting his lover, the fragile human—Light had to remind himself of his own strength sometimes and though he had managed to reign in his demonic impulses, Ryuuzaki had told him he wasn't quite careful enough last time. Light was terrified of hurting him again... _or worse._ But Light knew from his experiments that he could not "feed" through his tail—he would get no benefit from this. This was all for Ryuuzaki...

So Light let himself drown in that beautiful sight of his Raven, Ryuuga, Ryuuzaki, ( _L?_ ) riding on his tail, whipping that long raven hair which was now drenched with sweat and, impossibly, even more mussed than usual, the way Ryuuzaki's cheeks flushed with desire, the way his mouth fell open in silent (and sometimes not so silent) screams of pleasure.

And the way Ryuuzaki looked at him—the absolute _devotion_ in his eyes. 

Yes, even if he really was L... he would be spared. 

Meanwhile L moaned deeply as the pressure and the pleasure kept building up inside until he saw an explosion of white behind his eyes. 

L panted as Light's tail withdrew and curled protectively around him. L groaned again at the most wonderful sensations of it sliding against his skin and massaging between his legs. He wanted more—L noticed how Light hadn't gotten off yet and so he crawled his way over and took Light's dick in his mouth and sucked hard, his tongue dancing and playing against the tip. Light made a strangled noise and abruptly let go of L as his claws came out—wanting to do their own sucking and not the pleasant kind. 

_"Stop that!"_ Light snapped. The demon rolled over and finished himself off quickly in a few swift jerks (ever mindful of his claws.) 

"Light? What's wrong?" _Did I do something wrong?_

"It's just... you're _too good_ at that! I—I was getting too excited and..."

For the first time L got a glimpse of Light's wicked talons—they were currently clenched, shredding into the bedsheets in obvious frustration as Light tried to avoid feeding on his favored prey—L thought he understood the danger. 

"I see. Well, that's easily remedied. What we need... are handcuffs." 

_"What?!"_

"I understand that it's an involuntary reaction that you have little to no control over. Am I correct? So if I tie you up you can't claw me." L declared with a smirk. 

"Really, you think I haven't thought of that? I don't imagine that there is any chain strong enough to hold me!" 

L gave Light his penetrating stare. _He didn't say he **wouldn't** let me tie him up. He just said it was impossible..._ L frowned and made a mental note to see if he could purchase a chain made of some super strong experimental new alloys. L would be sure to test that when Light went in for their agreed upon testing.

The lovers lazily lay together in bed, not quite dozing, not quite awake—just listening to the strong sounds of the other's heartbeats. L felt warm and protected as he buried his head in Light's chest, the demon's wings enfolded around him like a great red blanket. Though L looked (and felt) lazy and content; all the while he was listening intently for clues—though he had never done such an operation himself before this he understood from his readings on the subject that there was nothing like coitus to get a man to loosen his tongue. This strategy worked well for Churchill during WWII, L was hoping it would work for him against Kira (though to L's knowledge Churchill never had to do it himself and relied on his female spy ring.) 

So L and Light began talking about... whatever—and it was kind of inevitable that they would both take to talking about the one thing that they were both most passionate about— _justice._

"I'm going to be the Director of the NPA one day," Light answered immediately when L asked. 

The detective looked thoughtful "You just wish to follow in your father's footsteps?"

"Yeah... _What?_ " Light demanded as it seemed Ryuuzaki was trying to bore holes into him with his eyes. 

"Nothing, it's admirable," L assured him as he nuzzled into the other man's chest. "It's just that somehow I expected more from you. Surely you see the reality of the situation. You would just be swallowed up by the system. Bound up in so much red tape you can't do anything... Nothing changes. It gets depressing, don't you think?" 

"Yeah, I know Ryuuzaki. But what more can you do? Laws exist for a reason! What are you suggesting? That I throw off the rule of law and become a... a..."

"A monster?" L asked innocently. 

Light gritted his fangs in annoyance. "Yes, that." 

"But Light-kun, sometimes laws are unjust," L argued. 

"I know that!"

"What if you had to enforce an unjust law?" 

Light just chuckled and kissed the crown of his head in an attempt to avoid the subject. "You know, this has to be the world's worst pillow talk..." 

Light frowned when L didn't get the hint and took to glaring at him irritably, and when that also failed to stop this _interrogation_ Light was forced to start feeding him candy in an attempt to shut him up. L hummed in pleasure and approval as the sweet, sweet chocolate gently drifted past his lips. Light felt a slight tremor go through him as L gently sucked around his finger tips but in the end this failed as a distraction seeing how L simply refused to let the matter go—and continued talking with his mouth full... 

"Let me put it another way. Would you ignore your ideals and blindly follow the status quo, the letter of the law, or would you compromise your integrity and pick and choose what laws to follow? Which do you think is better?" 

Light sighed and flopped back down on the bed. "Well, you're kind of damned if you do, damned if you don't. But you shouldn't make such wide generalizations—it depends on the situation! Of course I always make my decisions on a case by case basis!" the teen argued passionately.

"So... you would say you're already fighting for Justice?"

Light recovered quickly. "Well of course, I've already assisted the police on some cases, you know."

"Of course, Light-kun. But then... who are you to decide if you are making the right choice? Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions, wouldn't you agree?" 

" _Of course,_ Ryuuzaki."

"Even you?" 

Light felt L's eyes boring into him again. Silent, accusing— _He knows or at least he suspects..._

_That's fine._

_He can suspect me all he wants—there's nothing he can do about it now! He's in my thrall—I'm sure given enough time he'll come around to my way of thinking..._

"...Yes... if I ever did anything wrong—but I've done nothing wrong!" Light insisted earnestly. 

"Never?" L prodded.

"Of course not! Look. Ryuuzaki, I know the system isn't perfect but of course I'd work my hardest to make it better!"

"You really think it would make a difference?"

"Of course! I mean, I'm sure I could figure it out!" 

" _You_ could?"

"Well... who better than me? Someone has to do it and I _am_ the top scoring student in the country, you know" Light informed him, his voice laced with faux humility. 

"Ah, _now_ I see! So _Light Yagami_ is going to fix all the world's problems all by himself! Because he has perfect test scores he is God's Gift to mankind and he will succeed where countless others have failed in doing for thousands of years."

Light shook with barely contained rage, glaring at him with an expression that clearly read _'If I didn't like you, you'd be dead.'_ "You're _mocking_ me?"

"Do you actually believe—?! That is _beyond arrogant,_ Light-kun! Your pride is going to get you in serious trouble someday—"

Light finally got L to stop talking—for a glorious couple of minutes L became preoccupied with spitting the feathers out of his mouth after the teen hit him in the head with a pillow. But L was quick to retaliate—an eye for an eye—or rather a pillow for a pillow. In the end feathers floated freely across L and Kira's chosen battleground. As L buffeted him with pillow strikes Light noted that L was stronger than he looked. Of course he couldn't hope to hurt the demon and Light had to hold back considerably to avoid destroying L even with such a harmless seeming weapon but Light was still impressed that he felt the blows. 

Light brought the pillow fight to an end when he began teasing L again with that tricky tail of his; brushing it gently against his lower back. 

L shivered and abruptly dropped the pillow and shot Light a look that seemed torn between amusement, irritation, and desire. "Now Light, that wasn't fair."

Light giggled as he gently picked the dove-white feathers out of L's hair. "Life isn't fair, Ryuuzaki!" Light crowed. 

L scowled as his own sage advice was used against him.

The incubus, a still bit riled up from their "friendly" debate and pillow fight, aggressively pinned L to the bed. "So... would you like to go again?" 

***

"Hmmm... Ryuuzaki?" Light grunted as he awoke. The demon stretched languidly in the bed. He felt warm and content and so very fulfilled. 

Light smiled and turned his head, expecting to see L, his love, curled up next to him again, perhaps cutely sucking on his thumb. 

Nothing but a cooling pile of ashes remained. 

Light screamed.


	18. Judas Immortal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark chapter, dark themes. 
> 
> Chapter / title inspired by the song "Judas Immortal" by Persuader  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIge-101ot4

The wind whipped against the demon from where he was perched upon the mountaintop overlooking his New World or at least the forest of the park and the surrounding Tokyo megalopolis—it looked like all of it was _burning_ from the setting sun (reflected in his golden eyes.) A simple jar was clutched protectively in his talons.

L was dead. 

He died no better than the others.

Now there was nothing to slow him down—nothing to stand in his way...

No, _Ryuuga_ was dead. _Ryuuzaki_ was dead. 

His _Raven_ was… 

There was nothing left to bury. 

_This isn't what I…_

_It's not fair!_

Light leaned into the wind as he opened the jar and scattered his ashes into the wind. 

_No. It’s better this way..._

***

Soon after the disappearance of "Ryuuzaki" the police had brought Light in for questioning. 

The demon stood and watched the police station burn to the ground. 

He watched his father die, his normally stoic features contorted in anguish and betrayal.

Light wasn't sure when he started laughing. He wasn't even sure _why_ he was laughing—he didn't find any of this funny at all, and even he found the sound of his own laughter to be rather unnerving—it was a piercing sound, a wild and desperate cry that even drowned out the roaring inferno. For some reason that made him laugh harder and once he started he found it impossible to stop until it had run its course so he threw back his head and just let it all out until it finally subsided somewhat into psychotic giggling and hysterical sobbing. 

_It's **better** this way!_

When he finally calmed down enough to notice he saw that Ryuk was looking at him aghast. 

***

_I made a mistake in letting Ryuuzaki get so close. Never again! God rules alone!_

_A God... is alone._

With a shaking hand, Light disarmed the traps and retrieved his notebook from its hiding place where he had stored it, protected in a box and wrappings, in a little crevice in the rock face of a sheer cliff. It could only be accessed by flying. The shut off switch for the trap he built could only be accessed by one immune to fire such as himself and if the trap wasn’t shut off within 10 seconds the notebook would catch fire and burn to cinders. After successfully retrieving the notebook, the demon again flew up to the summit of the mountain, this time clutching his prize. He retrieved a pen from his pocket and opened up the notebook to a fresh page. 

**"Light-o? What are you doing?!"** Ryuk was shocked when he _saw what names_ were going into the notebook. 

"He did me a favor," the teen insisted in a soft but biting tone.

"Huh?" 

"Ryuuzaki! He… he did me a favor! _Dying..._ " (Ryuk noticed how Light’s breath hitched. He needed a moment before he could continue.) "...on me like that! Attachments are a weakness!"

_Just write them out! Write them all out... IT'S **BETTER** THIS WAY!_

It only took a half hour of writing to kill all his friends and family. 

When his task was completed the teen slumped forward, the notebook falling in his lap. He could bring himself to do nothing more than stare out at the fiery glow of the sunset—the light was fading fast.

 _This world... will **burn.**_

***

And so Kira brought the world to its knees. 

It didn't seem to make much difference. 

No matter how many he killed it was all so **_ROTTEN!_** It was never good enough… It never got any _better_ than this. 

The humans walked on by; unaware that it was their God that walked beside them, that they passed on the street, in the park, at the shopping malls.  
He had everything… and nothing. 

(Nothing without…) 

As two lovers walked pass a brooding teen on a park bench they did not know how very lucky they were that said teen did not know their names. 

_It's not fair!_

_"The world’s not fair, Light-kun."_

"Ryuuzaki?" Light asked with a start, he could have sworn he heard L's voice. And for a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of a slouched figure with dark messy hair…

No one was there. 

He had just caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the koi pond. He swore he could almost see Ryuuzaki if he stared deep enough...

Ryuk chuckled when Light "failed to drown himself" when some good Samaritan pulled him from the water and Light’s cursed demon body healed any damage. 

***

The incubus continued to hunt. 

He would seek out men with fair skin and dark hair. For a fleeting moment he could pretend he had found L again. An illusion that was always broken before the night was through. 

Death was an appropriate punishment for such a betrayal. 

And every time he broke a bit more.

Each time, for a fleeting moment he could pretend he had found Ryuuzaki again but as the young demon found was true with all things, it carried a terrible price, because at the same time it was like he was killing Ryuuzaki over and over again. 

But for that fleeting moment he would always succumb... and so would his prey. 

***

When Light heard the news that "L" had challenged him again he was hoping against hope—as insane as it was—that Ryuuzaki was somehow back. That he had somehow been resurrected by the angels—if something like him existed then perhaps there were angels. Perhaps the devious detective had gone off and got himself some wings and a halo and could now backup his holier than thou attitude. As irritating as that thought was the demon still found himself hoping. Light's hopes had soared upon discovering and breaking into "L's" hideout—of course between his genius mind and his demonic powers, such incursions were child's play. Kira snuck into this "SPK's" headquarters, undetected. 

"Ryuuzaki?" Light's voice trembled with emotion when he saw the figure crouching in the shadows surrounded by monitors, and strangely enough, toys. But the silhouette looked just like... 

_I've found you! After so long..._

The other man startled and turned around, surprise and poorly masked fear written on his features upon seeing the strange man in the dark suit who looked like he had just waltzed into his highest security building. 

Light should have known better than to get his hopes up by now. No matter how he worked to change it, this world seemed to offer nothing but disappointment. He observed it was a man in his mid-twenties. He crouched and slouched. He wore a baggy white shirt and blue pants. He had dark, ever-staring eyes. 

But it wasn't _his_ L. 

The man's youthful features and the wild mane of curly white hair crowning his head boldly proclaimed this.

It wasn't L—just an _imposter_ using L's name. 

How _dare_ he?!

How _dare_ he get his hopes up that Ryuuzaki had returned?!

How _dare_ he think he could even _compare?!_

_How dare he?!_

"How did you get in here?" The albino asked in a bland tone but Light could hear, could _smell_ his fear. 

"Who _are_ you?" Light demanded, seething with barely constrained rage. 

The younger man stared (it was Ryuuzaki’s stare, but it wasn’t) and nonchalantly twirled a strand of white hair. "I am L."

Near soon learned that that was entirely the wrong thing to say. 

_"IMPOSTER!"_ Light roared. His shouting was accompanied by a sickening crack as large bloody, bones erupted from the man's back. (Ruining his suit, but he didn't seem to care.) Near was unable to turn away as he watched the gruesome sight of flesh growing and stretching over them until they had flared out, forming a pair of great red wings.

 _Ha! Coward!_ Light was amused by how the pale man cowered in fear. Ryuuzaki would never be cowed so easily—even when he was frightened! _His L_ wasn't even afraid of his true form! It was one of the many things Light admired about the man. 

" _Where's L!_ " The demon demanded as he savagely lifted the pathetic fool by the neck, slamming him down over his desk. 

The human struggled and squirmed and tried to arch up into his attacker, his cheeks flushed with desire—of course just like every other creature with a pulse this stupid copycat would no doubt be getting off from just being in proximity to his person. It was maddening—he didn’t _WANT_ any of them. All he wanted was Ryuuzaki... 

"Who _are_ you?" Near pleaded in a hoarse whisper though, as confused and terrified as he was of what was happening to that he already knew the answer. He dreaded it all the same.

Light smiled nastily, sanguine eyes gleaming with malice. "I am Kira." Light let that sink in before he continued. "Now tell me where L is or I'll kill _everyone_ here," Light snarled. 

"Shouldn't you know..." Near trailed off. How could Kira not know? Wasn't he the one to kill L? 

"Give me Ryuuzaki! _NOW!_ I know... _I know you're hiding him!_ " Light's command faltered, giving way to the pleading, desperation of madness. 

Near realized the answer was simple. This man... no, _monster_ was _completely insane_ and he no doubt would kill everyone here if he _didn't_ get L.

"I told you, I am L!" the young man choked and strained in Light's hold.

 _"Don't. You. DARE!_ You're not L! I _knew_ L! There is only one L—the greatest man I've ever known! Don't you _dare_ think you could _ever_ hope to compare to him! You're not worthy of the sticky candies he stepped in!"

Light smiled sickly, his incubus powers were very useful. Unlike the Death Note, as long as he controlled himself he could keep a human alive in his thrall and so he had more than one opportunity to force an answer out of his prey. Kira had Near under his control as soon as the albino got a whiff of his pheromones. 

Light was quick to teach Near the errors of his ways. The pathetic little sheepling groveled at his feet; crying and begging forgiveness that he was so arrogant as to think he was any kind of match for Kira and, more importantly, that he would dare to use L's name. 

_"Tell me where Ryuuzaki is!"_ Light demanded again and again.

In the end, no matter what Light tried this "Near" had no answers for him, this man was no L and Light was too angry to pretend otherwise. So in the end the demon merely snapped his neck. 

***

Kira continued to write. The world was still not pure, still not clean, _still not perfect._

Where was Ryuuzaki? It could never be perfect without Ryuuzaki! Ryuuzaki never liked him killing, did he? Then perhaps if he killed enough of them Ryuuzaki would _have_ to come back...

***

 **"I guess I couldn’t kill you after all."**

"Hmm?" 

**"I wrote your name in the Death Note, see? But you didn't die."**

"Ah..." Light said, totally unconcerned as he gazed out the window, a dreamy, faraway look in his eyes as he stared out at the palace gardens and the field of erect and spiky petaled blue flowers. Lupins—that started with an L... 

**"Nothing personal, it's just… It's not fun anymore."**

Light simply sat cross-legged on his throne. The God-Emperor chuckled darkly for a bit before looking up at the death god, grinning madly.

"Silly Shinigami! You can't kill what's already dead! Light Yagami died long ago."

As Ryuk continued to grumble Light seemed to become lucid for just a moment... 

"You're not going to leave me too, are you?" Light asked pathetically, a very stricken look upon his face. 

**"I don't really have a choice, now do I?"** Ryuk muttered bitterly.

***

He wandered lost through the barren wasteland beneath blackened skies. The sun did not seem to exist in this place—nothing much seemed to exist in this place but ash and dust—everything was dull, blackened and grey. 

"Where is everyone?" Light said in barely a whisper as he stared in disbelief at the impossible world around him. 

Ryuk cackled bitterly. **"What? Isn't this what you wanted? You know—a peaceful world... Ah, listen.... Hear that? ...Silence."**

_"Ah, now I see! So Light Yagami is going to fix all the world's problems..."_ L's long ago spoken words resounded in his head. 

"Where's Ryuuzaki?" Light demanded. 

The Shinigami sighed a long suffering sigh as if he had been asked that many times before. **"He's dead, Light,"** Ryuk told him in a strangely gentle tone. **"Don't you remember?"**

Just then the Shinigami was wracked with a strange hacking fit.

"Ryuk? What's wrong?” 

**"I'm dying, Light."**

_"What?!"_

"There's nothing left to feed on." 

"What _happened?!_ " 

The Shinigami eyed him as if he were an ancient source of irritation. **"You Light. You killed them all."**

Ryuk grunted in pain as he began to crumble to dust. 

"No, not you too! Please don't leave me here alone! _Please!_ " Light begged of the ashes in the wind. 

***

Light shrieked and fought frantically against the tangle of sheets as he bolted awake. Beside him L, _a very much alive_ L, grumbled and rolled over in his sleep when Light accidentally buffeted him with his wings in his frantic attempts to escape his nightmare but L did not wake—once the insomniac got to sleep he slept like the dead.

Light checked his pulse just to be sure, he finally reassured himself that L was indeed alive and alright after several long, fearful minutes of watching and listening to the rise and fall of L's chest. It helped to calm Light’s own racing heartbeat. Light reluctantly disentangled himself from the detective. He sat for a moment on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands. 

_Ryuuzaki. Ryuuga. L... What am I going to do with you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** _Before you kill me…_  
>  This story was originally written for a kink request for an incubus!Light that eventually seduces and kills L and then goes on to rule the world but is very sad about it. Well, that didn't really fit the comedic tone that I inevitably fell into. And this version of Light loves L very much—he could never cope with such a "victory." It would REALLY screw him up! So, bam—nothing like a really horrific nightmare sequence, like Light’s very own ghost of Christmas future, to get him questioning his priorities.


	19. To Rule In Hell

Light sat at the edge of the hotel’s bed, working to control his breathing as he stared out into the darkened room. He did not care to ponder what that mysterious wetness around his eyes might be. Light had had plenty of nightmares since becoming Kira but that one seemed so _real._ Normally his dreams faded upon waking but not this time. The events of his nightmare remained, replaying in his mind, as vivid and true as any of his true memories. _What if… what if it **was** real? Perhaps I somehow managed to send my consciousness back to this time with demon powers that I possess and am not yet aware of? A do-over?_ Normally he would never entertain such an absurd idea but really, Light concluded it couldn’t have been anything else by the flawless logic that he, Kira, would never get so scared over a simple nightmare. 

_But then if it was real…_

Light felt the hot bile rising up his throat and covered his mouth against the coming dry heave. Once his stomach had somewhat settled again he took a moment to stare down at his clawed fingers. 

_Monster._

_I-I’m a monster!_

Next to him L whimpered slightly in his sleep.

_Ryuuzaki…_

Light forcibly sheathed his claws and carded his fingers through Ryuuzaki’s dark mane. That seemed to calm the detective of his night terrors and the older man snuggled into the blankets, sucking on his thumb in his sleep.

_No matter how careful I am, no matter how much I hold back… the fact of the matter is, I’m killing him slowly._

L slept soundly in the presence of the monster, curling into the warm space once occupied by his lover on the bed, as said lover silently got up, got dressed, and shut the door. 

***

As soon as he stepped out onto the street it began to rain; as if the skies opened up just for him. Well that made perfect sense to Light. He, the God of this world, was miserable and so it was only natural that his world would be too. Light wandered the streets in a daze, anguished thoughts echoing in his head as he was… searching, trying to find the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel; for a moment he thought he saw it… 

No, wait—it was only a bus. 

But he was currently so very miserable he couldn’t even summon the will to get the fuck out of the way. 

The demon lay there for a while, eventually getting around to rearranging his rib cage so it was in the right order when the sensations of it healing wrong became irritating, and he regarded all the so-called "good people" he had been fighting for, that he sacrificed so much for, who didn’t stop to help or indeed pay him any mind and Light wondered if perhaps they were all rotten. 

As despair gave way to anger Light found the will to drag himself, bleeding, up onto the pavement.

 _Perhaps there's no redeeming this world!_ The idea that he might off the entire human race like in his dream suddenly seemed like a very _real_ possibility. 

"Light?" And then Yamamoto was there to offer a helping hand—blissfully unaware that he just saved the human race from Kira's current adolescent meltdown. "Hey, what happened to you, buddy? …and what the hell did you do to your hair?" Yamamoto asked in a bewildered tone, his eyes going comically wide behind his glasses. Light sucked in a sudden, fearful breath as he realized that Yamamoto was touching his horns. His demon parts were out! How embarrassing. He must have reverted thanks to the shock of being hit by a bus. Light quickly changed back to human form but he was sure that the damage was already done.

_Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! I have to kill him!_

Yamamoto just blinked a couple of times and looked away but Light heard him mutter to himself. “Huh… I guess I’m still a bit stoned.”

On the inside Light was breathing a sigh of relief on the outside though he was making a big show of being a self-righteousness stick-up-the-ass that he didn’t really have to put much effort into faking. 

_"Yamamoto!"_

"What?"

"What were you thinking doing stuff like that?! I thought you wanted to be a detective someday and… and what about Kira?!"

Yamamoto laughed but led his irate friend inside so that they could continue their conversation in the secretive sanctuary of the coffee shop just in case someone did care he smoked a joint and it somehow got back to Kira... 

Yamamoto wordlessly lent Light his his jacket when he noticed how Light’s shirt was in tatters and how much frothing attention Light was garnering because of it. Not to mention the odd effect it was having on _him_. What remained of Light's shirt also appeared to be a bloody mess but that must not have been real—Light said he was fine and Yamamoto was aware he couldn't exactly trust his perceptions right now...

"Light, do you really think Kira is going to bother with me for just smoking a joint?" Yamamoto laughed to reassure them both. 

"I…" 

Yamamoto reached across the table and patted Light's arm in a condescending manner. "Really, Light. You need to loosen up a bit. I just tried it once to see what it was all about, that’s all. It's not like I’m going to go crazy over it. And you know what? I got a screaming headache, I vomited, I got a horrible craving for chips. I'm never doing it again. I just figured it would be good to have some real world experience before I started working vice." 

"Wait you want to work in _vice?!_ "

"Well I was considering applying to the NPA when I graduate but then I thought—do I really want to be stuck at a boring desk job filling out paperwork for the rest of my life? Do _you_ for that matter?" 

"Uh…"

"I mean you're bored now with school and shit! I know the pay isn’t that great compared to the NPA but hey, you’re smarter than me—I bet you could be like James Bond or something! Hell, you could probably be like the next L!" Yamamoto moved on when it seemed that for some reason the subject was making Light uncomfortable. "Anyway doing the actual police work—that just seems more exciting, you know? More glamorous…" 

"More dangerous," Light pointed out. 

"Yeah, but at least it's not boring. I mean, shit. Have you ever been on a ride along?"

(Light fidgeted he always wanted to but with his father it was always "later.")

"Have you _seen_ vice? I mean you know you can’t always be straight-laced when it comes to taking out bad guys—sometimes it's a bad idea to look like a cop. You've gotta have tried it at least once just to fit in." 

"But that's… That's not how it's supposed to be!" 

“Well _duh._ That's just the way things _are._ "

"But… the world is changing…What if vice division is gone by the time you graduate… Kira…"

"Kira or no Kira crime is never going to disappear. People have always been afraid of dying. That hasn’t stopped them before—it's not going to stop them now. Criminals are just gonna get smarter about it, that's all." 

"But the crime rate…" 

"Hasn't improved. Kira has only monopolized murder. You pointed that out to me yourself, remember?" 

"Oh… right." _Dammit._ This was Yamamoto who went to school with him and told him how brilliant he was and hung onto his every word. He couldn't just write him off as an enemy of Kira when really it was his own words coming back to bite him in the ass.

"If you think about it, there's plenty of ways to exploit the Kira situation. What if you want to get rid of your enemies fast? Just frame them for murder and get their name and photo on the six o'clock news…" Unnoticed by Yamamoto, Light was looking more and more distressed. The righteous killer attempted to mask the emotions trying to break through by calmly taking a sip of coffee. "Yeah, people are always going to seek cheap thrills. Drugs, prostitution… The world's oldest profession—I think our job is safe." 

Light choked on his coffee.

"What?!" 

"What? I was just saying Kira or no Kira, _vice_ isn't going away. There will always be work for cops. Why… do you have a side job you haven’t told me about, Light?" Yamamoto smirked. "I bet you could do it too." 

Light steepled his fingers like a stereotypical movie villain and glowered at him from across the table. Sure he had posed as one plenty of times to lure his prey so he could have sex with strangers but that didn't _make_ him one! 

"Yamamoto, you know if you weren't my friend… I would kill you for that." 

The other boy laughed unconcerned. "Yeah, I don't suppose you'd ever work vice. You dress too nice. I swear the dress code for the vice detectives is like baggy shirts and jeans and ratty sneakers, kinda like Ryuuzaki… Heh. Hey where is Ryuuzaki? Oh no, don't tell me the two of you have had a spat?" 

Light was about to deny it but then again he was fairly certain that Ryuuzaki was in fact L. That meant that their entire relationship was "a spat" of epic proportions. 

"Yeah…" Light sighed resignedly. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

"No."

"Light…"

Light sulked. 

"You know I can keep a secret." 

Yamamoto looked so hurt that Light found himself relenting. "He's… he's great. It's just. It's me…" Light sighed. He couldn't believe he was talking about this. In all honesty he'd rather be having a root canal than be talking about _feelings_ like this but then he'd never felt this strongly for anyone before Ryuuzaki and he found himself stupidly blurting out "I... I _really like him_ but I don't think I can… I'm... afraid. I'm afraid I'm going to screw this up. I'm _terrified_ I'm going to hurt him. You might have noticed but me and Ryuuzaki… we’re very different people. We clash… in numerous ways. The more I think about it, the less it seems like a good idea. I don't… I don't deserve him." 

"He's probably wondering where you are. Just what happened between you two anyway? You seemed to be getting along great… You know, I bet this is just something stupid." 

_Oh it's nothing big, Yamamoto. He's just my sworn nemesis._ "Well you see… there's this project we’ve been working on for school and we're both very excited about it but Ryuuzaki… he doesn't like the way I'm doing it. He wants to do things his way! He's so stubborn!"

"So in other words… he's just like you." 

" _What?!_ "

"What?" Yamamoto gave him a searching look which Light ignored for the sake of taking a dignified sip of his coffee. "I really have no idea what you're talking about."

Yamamoto rolled his eyes. "Of course you don't."

"I just don't understand why he has a problem with the way I do things—it's efficient, it's perfectly logical, it's working…" _Isn't it?_

 _Is the Kira plan really working as a deterrent? Sure wars have stopped and the crime rate is down…It is down but naturally there are others who don't see it that way. To the misguided who view Kira's actions as criminal instead of acting in the service of humanity… well, it's as I explained to Yamamoto and Ryou earlier—if you count Kira's actions as crimes than the crime rate has actually gone up with Kira dwarfing all other crime. But crime is still very much present even with the threat of Kira. Honestly I thought it would be trickling off by now but no, it's all so rotten! Even worse Kira's judgments seemed to encourage the degenerates. Many of Kira's "fan sites" are basically hit lists made by normal citizens. The "please kill my parents-girl" on Sakura TV comes to mind. Some are even going so far as to become murderers themselves, attempting to emulate Kira. It's worrying—even though I'm always swift to punish these copycats it doesn’t seem to discourage this behavior._

Yamamoto was alarmed by the sound of his friend’s forehead hitting the surface of the table. 

"Light? What's wrong?" 

_So the short answer is "no." Kira is NOT working as a deterrent... I've just made things so much worse..._

"I screwed up… I've screwed up bad."

Yamamoto was unnerved. He had never seen Light looking so miserable. "Aw, c'mon. I'm sure it's not that bad. Look, everyone make mistakes!"

" _I don't!_ "

Yamamoto blinked. Come to think of it he had _never_ seen Light screw up at anything. He never got an answer wrong, he always got to class on time, and he never had embarrassing pratfalls. He was always suave, and sociable, and seemingly too perfect to be real. Perhaps Light really had _never screwed up_ before this current vague problem he was having and come to think of it, that must have been _devastating_ —he would be totally unprepared to deal with failure. 

“So? I guess all this means is that the great Light Yagami is human after all…” Yamamoto’s good-natured ribbing didn’t have the desired effect and the way Light was glaring at him—honestly it was kind of scary. “Aw c’mon! Look whatever this is I’m sure you can fix it! You’re a genius! I mean, surely it’s not the end of the world!” 

Yamamoto startled when his friend gave out a broken laugh that made his hair stand on end. 

"Shit! I've screwed up! I've screwed up _epically!_ And Ryuuzaki hates me." 

"Er… What if you asked Ryuuzaki to help you?" 

"That would never work! Dammit! I-I don't want to fight with him but I owe it to everyone to finish what I started! Why does he have to be so stubborn?!" 

"Surely there's a solution but you're too emotionally invested to see it. I mean isn't there a way you can finish your project _and_ make Ryuuzaki happy?" 

"That's not possible!"

Yamamoto sighed in exasperation "Light… Listen. Just… take a step back for a minute. You love him, right?" Light grunted and nodded slightly from beneath his fringe of bangs as he focused his attention on his clenched fists on the table top. "Are you sure it’s not just a case of getting cold feet and second guessing yourself?" 

"I _don't_ 'second guess' myself!" Light hissed. 

Yamamoto sighed again. "I think you need to hear this. My older brother once gave me some invaluable advice when I was having girl trouble…" 

Light looked up at that. "Ryuuzaki isn't a girl." 

"Yeah, I noticed" Yamamoto adjusted his glasses as he replied sardonically "But I imagine the same principle applies." 

Light sighed. "I'm listening."

"#1 Apologize, even if it wasn't your fault and you’ve done nothing wrong. Man up and take responsibility. 

#2 Just accept the fact that in any argument she's always right, even when she's not." 

"But what if she isn't right?"

"She's _always_ right. Just accept it, man. Of course you know you're right but you must concede small victories. That way you get laid—or so my brother told me." 

"You're no help at all," Light groaned from the tabletop. 

"#3 Relationships are all about compromise, you know give and take, finding common ground. C'mon, that should be easy for you guys. I mean I know you're brilliant and Ryuuzaki seems really smart too. You should be able to make this work. I mean, I'm sure he must do things that annoy you but think… do you do anything that annoys him?"

 _Killing people… I gather that annoys him even though it's totally justified._

Light sighed again. _I have to compromise, huh?_

_Well… Evil people deserve to die but L doesn't like that. Dammit, now if they would just stop committing crimes then I wouldn't have to punish them!_

_But Yamamoto's right. Ryuuzaki and I… we're a lot alike, superficial differences aside—we’re passionate about the same things and we even think alike. Hell. If such a thing as a soulmate exists (they don't of course, that's utterly stupid) but if they did mine would have to be Ryuuzaki…_

_I imagine it's **just** the killing part of my righteous Justice that he's squeamish about. I was too, before…_

"Yamamoto, I could kiss you." 

"Uh… I'm flattered, really but I really only like girls!" Yamamoto insisted awkwardly, his face going red as a tomato. "Really, I'm not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with that! And I'm sure you can fix things with Ryuuzaki!" 

"No, no. Not like that! I just meant you're a genius! Thank you."

"Er… thanks. Anytime. What were we talking about anyway?" 

"Yeah, _I'vegottago—catchyalater._ " Light called over his shoulder as he rushed out the door. 

_When I started this plan the Death Note was my only tool, it was the only way. But I also knew from the beginning… the Kira plan could only go so far. I could only encourage people to do the right thing by setting up examples, warnings to others. But now? Now that I've been blessed with this, my… birthright I've extended my arsenal! If the ends justify the means then it should be the goal not the means that are important! Have I really lost sight of what I…? Dammit, it was so foolish to stick to the same plan when I could've…_

_No, regrets are useless! I'll fix it! I’ll make the perfect world yet! Just watch me… L, Ryuuzaki …_

_I'll give you the world._


	20. Yarusenai

Slowly withdrawing from his comfortable oblivion the great detective L blinked the sleep from his dark, shadowed eyes. A dopey smile crept across his face as he felt that now familiar pleasant ache overtake him. The detective stretched languidly and rolled over to make the unpleasant discovery that he was alone in the bed.  


“Light?”  


L sat up, the smooth cotton hotel sheets pooling in his lap.  


His lover was gone.  


L felt cold.  


_Light’s side of the bed is cold meaning he has been gone for hours._  


No warning. No note. _Just gone._  


_18% chance that Light has commitment issues. 11% chance it was some Kira-related emergency. 3% chance he forgot something at the store. 7% chance Light is disgusted by me. 61% it was all a lie…_ L made himself stop when he noticed how his body had begun to tremble slightly—how odd that he found his own calculations to be so upsetting.  


L found some solace in a quick shower—the cold water helped him to clear his thoughts and jolt him fully awake.  


The detective eventually located his jeans and retrieved his cell phone from the pocket. L glared disdainfully at the loathsome thing as he worked up the nerve to call Watari and tell him…  


“Might I ask _how_ you lost him?” Watari demanded. L heard how the old man was trying to keep the irritableness out of his voice and deduced that he was fighting a very nasty hang over. This was probably not the time to be asking why he has been drinking in the first place.  


“I was… sleeping,” L admitted.  


L was met with a disquieting silence on the other end of the line.  


“Watari?” L asked frantically as the silence stretched on.  


“ _You_ were sleeping?”  


“Yes.” L fidgeted like he had been caught stealing from the Queen’s desert cart again.  


“I’m sorr—”  


“You know… if he wasn’t your Kira suspect I’d suggest that he is a good influence on you,” Watari commented dryly. The clacking of a keyboard could be heard over the phone as Watari continued speaking “Don’t worry, Ryuuzaki. Ever since our talk earlier I decided it was prudent to keep a sharper eye on the situation, I hacked into the city surveillance system again and I put the taskforce to work—You may have noticed I had Mogi and Ukita tailing you since you left the coffee shop.” L nodded dully—Watari probably _could_ see him on the other end of the phone thanks to hacking the hotel’s security feed. “Mogi saw Light Yagami leaving the hotel several hours ago and has been tailing him ever since…  


Oh, I’ve got another call… _WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST HIM?!_ ” Watari shouted. L winced and pulled the cell phone away from his now ringing ear. “Ryuuzaki, shall I call a meeting of the taskforce?”  


“No. I’m going back to our apartment. I imagine he’ll return there eventually. You can just give me your reports over breakfast.”  


“Ryuuzaki…” the old man began in an almost scolding tone.  


“What? The hotel has a complimentary breakfast! I intend to take advantage of it.”  


It had been hours since Light had disappeared so it would hardly matter if L stopped for breakfast. No sense in stopping crime on an empty stomach—that was L’s motto.  


Watari just gave a long-suffering sigh. “Well, on the plus side Wedy has finished installing the cameras. Thought you’d like to know.”  


“Good… but don’t let the taskforce know just yet. As you already know I’ve found it strategically advantageous to enter into a… closer relationship with the suspect. Though it is a perfectly legal relationship between two consenting adults that still might be…. upsetting to the suspect’s father.” L said and then hung up before Watari could let his own disapproval be known.  


He finished getting dressed in his baggy jeans and the black sweater he had borrowed from Light—L found to his dismay that the sweater still carried Light’s scent but he wasn’t inclined to make Watari drive all the way out here just to give him a change of clothes.  


But still…  


The detective closed his shadowed eyes and breathed _him_ in.  


_Light… It hurt’s… my heart!_ L’s eyes snapped open again as he felt a pang in his chest. No, Kira hadn’t killed him, but to leave him _feeling like this_ —it was almost worse! L just wasn’t built to handle emotions well. In fact he usually handled them by ignoring them and eating sweets because sweets solved all his problems… Well, that solution had worked so far and the sweet-tooth wasn’t about to question it now. L padded down to the hotel lobby; his senses locking on like lasers onto the buffet table. The detective quickly loaded up a tray with cantaloupe, honey-glazed ham, a hot cup of sugar with green tea, and a pile of _dango_. The detective then crouched onto a chair at one of the small tables in his usual way; awkwardly balancing the tray of food between his knees.  


All around him L could hear the usual whisperings of “freak” and “pervert” by the so-called “normal” people. When they caught sight of him mothers would grab their children and swiftly vacated the premises.  


“E-excuse me… sir?” Asked an approaching bellhop—no doubt about to ask him to sit normally or leave—L affixed him a cold glare and the poor bellhop suddenly lost his nerve, stammering something about needing to clean up the kitchen.  


L sighed, poking morosely at his breakfast. He removed one of the dango balls from its skewer, squeezing it flat between his fingers. L scowled at the now smashed dango as if it was the pastry’s fault it had become smashed. Food usually made him feel better but not this time. He didn’t want to admit it but he was acutely missing the company of the asshole… er, _suspect_ that had abandoned him. Now _Light_ never got freaked out by his appearance or his mannerisms. Why should he? After all Light was a bigger freak than he was, what with being a demon and (98.83% likely) a killer.  


As L started working on his breakfast he got out his cell phone and called up Watari again. The detective chewed on his dango without tasting it as the taskforce gave their report on Light’s activities. Apparently at 2:37 AM Light Yagami left the hotel and appeared to just wander aimlessly for a while. Mogi lost sight of him for about five minutes in the shifting crowd and he didn’t show up on any of the security cameras but he was sighted again entering the coffee shop that Light and L had stopped at earlier with another boy about his age that L quickly identified as Yamamoto (the detective fought down a sudden surge of jealousy and forced himself to try and listen to the report objectively) but then, ten minutes later, he left in quite a hurry. The cameras caught him again in the shopping district. He left carrying many purchases. Before they lost him his tails determined he visited an electronics store and a hobby shop. He paid cash in both instances. When questioned one of the cashiers remembered the transaction—apparently he told her he was getting his little brother a chemistry set. The last time they could account for his whereabouts was from camera footage of him walking down a busy street. He turned a corner and he was gone. That was four hours ago. L squished another dango ball and scowled again. _He_ should have known where Light was and what Light was up to because Light should be _here with him!_  


Naturally the mystery purchases were of some concern to the detective.  


_Just what are you planning, Light?_  


That question plagued L all the way back to their shared apartment. Of course the first thing that came to mind was that Light was currently plotting his death. Sure L never even got around to telling him he was L but it was entirely possible that Light somehow figured it out on his own. Light _could have_ killed him at any time but then if he was planning on killing him he would probably do it in a more subtle way so he would appear completely free of guilt—after all, that was Kira’s _modus operandi._ In his hidden heart L really wished that they were past this trying to kill each other business but L the detective was a cerebral creature and he just didn’t believe it. Logically someone like Light—like _Kira_ —they would never stop killing and L was in his way.

L turned the key and entered their empty apartment. He didn’t really expect him to be here but L was still hoping he would be. As soon as he opened the door the detective was hit by a sickly sour smell. L held his nose and collected the offending dirty sheets, bagged them up, and deposited them at a nearby drop off point where his team would collect them later. He would have Watari buy him some new sheets—deep blue and silk, and maybe with candy patterns on them? Or maybe not. There was an 83% chance that Light wouldn’t like that—he no doubt preferred a more mature look for their bed and while needling the other boy was fun he didn’t want to drive him away...

 _Did I drive him away?_ L thought anxiously as he re-entered the apartment. _No! He’s coming back. He HAS to!_

Light had promised him to let him study him but that was before he… went on the run like this. Though none of Light’s personal effects were out of place but if Light did run L doubted he would make it obvious with a ransacked room.

_He’ll be back. Of course he’ll be back. The idea that a suspect as prideful as Kira would run is ridiculous!_

But in case Light didn’t return the sheets would no doubt yield some DNA to work with. 

L consoled himself in the mean time that he was finally able to solve one little mystery—after he gave their apartment another quick scan he discovered who was responsible in The Case of the Malfunctioning Laptop. The culprit in this case was:

“Magneto…” L murmured to himself. L recognized the toy from Near’s lectures on the subject. The arch enemy of the X-men, a supervillain with noble goals but in his struggles to save the people from the injustices of the world he became the very thing he swore to destroy. L found it more than a little ironic that the Magneto figurine had a place on Kira’s bookshelf.

L regarded the miniature Master of Magnetism and realized it was the model which contained real magnets in it. The detective had noticed the cheap plastic figurine up on the bookshelf earlier but now it seems it had fallen, face down on his laptop. The toy must have become jostled from the explosion ( _or maybe when the bed was thumping against the desk…_ L blushed and quickly ended that line of thought) and tumbled down from the shelf and onto the laptop resting on the desk below. That’s why his surveillance had failed—the magnets inside the action figure had turned his laptop into a very large and expensive paperweight.

The detective smirked as he picked up the culprit, the dorky looking figurine, by its stiff plastic cape—that flamboyant red and purple costume was actually quite homoerotic. Some rather creative (perverted) ideas flashed through the genius’s mind of some things he’d like to do with Light involving shiny latex gloves, torn capes, chains, and role-play games…

Jeez, what the hell was wrong with him? Ever since he met Light he was turning into such a horndog. (It must have been Light rubbing off on him or something.) Of course L would never, _could never_ submit to Kira however as his breath hitched at the mental images he reluctantly admitted to himself that it was indeed a sexy fantasy. But then so was the one where he interrogated Light in a police uniform.

L groaned and shook his head. How pathetic was this? Light wasn’t even here! L didn’t even know with 100% certainty if he was coming back! And he was probably out doing… _diabolical things with other people!_ L scowled and let his displeasure at the situation be known by throwing something at the wall—that something just happened to be the offending action figure. It hit the wall hard and then crashed to the floor. The detective gave a guilty wince immediately afterwards. No doubt the destruction of his laptop had been accidental and it’s not like he didn’t have a few hundred of them and here he had to go destroying Light’s things. Not to mention that this sort of behavior was the very thing he’d always scold Mello about when he got the weekly report from Wammy’s House and hear how he had broken another one of Near's robots. Even though Mello would never find out about this lapse he didn’t consider himself being a very good role model. And though Near never said anything L knew it upset him greatly. L didn’t really want to upset Light… well, no more than his job required. L made his way over and inspected the fallen figure. The limbs and head were miraculously still attached but the face had become chipped from the impact. The villain had lost his fearsome demeanor—now he just looked sad.

The detective sighed and stared, unseeingly at the empty bed before returning his attention back to the broken toy in his hand. He recalled Near babbling something about how even though Magneto was the enemy of the X-men he was also their leader, Charles Xavier’s, closest friend.

L put Magneto back up on the bookshelf.

**“Woah!”**

L froze; his heart racing in his chest when he heard that guttural voice speaking behind him, whoever it was, he cast a shadow across the room, and over him. The first thing that came to the detective’s mind was maybe one of their Yakuza neighbors had decided to burglarize the place while they were out and didn’t expect him to be back yet. But L had checked the room when he came in—it was empty! No one could get the drop on him like this!

**“I would never have guessed that that L-guy could have such a temper!”**

The detective stiffened slightly. “That L-guy? Whatever do you mean?”

There was a long drawn-out silence. L was about to start considering that he might just be hallucinating when the stranger spoke again. 

**“Did you just talk to me?”**

“Yes, I—” L started to say as he turned around to address the unknown speaker but upon seeing _exactly_ what was behind him the words died in his throat.

 **“Wh—woah, you CAN see me?!”** the monstrous _thing_ cackled ominously. **“Oh, this is gonna be fun!”**


	21. Skeletons In The Closet

L figured that after seeing Light in his so-called "demon form" he was taking meeting this _thing_ better than he might have otherwise—he didn't scream in terror but merely stared up at the huge, black, bug-eyed creature's clownish face full of slobbering fangs. The pale, gangly detective tried to keep his body from obviously quaking in terror as the monstrous thing lifted its dark wicked talons and did nothing more than give him a dorky little wave.

 **"Hey there. The name's Ryuk. Nice to meet you... _L._ "** The thing snickered, stressing the name as if they were both in on some private joke.

The detective fixed the creature with his disturbing, all-seeing, gaze, deduced that whatever this thing was, the lights were not all on upstairs and so proceeded to address it as if he were merely speaking to Matsuda "I would ask that you would please call me Ryuuzaki."

The creature made a deep rumbling noise that might have been either a growl or a chuckle as it bared more of its fangs in what might be either a sneer or a smile. It was hard for even L to discern the creature's intentions—the monster had an eerily frozen face.

**"Why not? It's _your name._ "**

L kept his usual blank expression even as his heart tried to escape his rib cage. "It would just make me more comfortable," L replied, affecting an apathetic tone. 

The creature laughed again (it was a laugh) at the detective's audacity. **"Alright... _Ryuuzaki._ "**

"Ryuk-san..."

The monster gave him an odd look at the use of honorifics before it began cackling louder. L shivered despite himself—the monster's mirth was distinctly reminiscent of a croaking raven celebrating the discovery of a fresh corpse.

 **"Just Ryuk is fine... _Ryuuzaki._ "**

"Fine. _Ryuk..._ Are you a demon?" 

**"Naah. I'm a Shinigami."**

"A Shinigami..." L gave the creature a calculated look. The detective swallowed hard and fought the urge to _tremble_ at this assault on the very foundations of reality—at least he didn't scream and fall out of a chair this time (though the latter was largely due to the fact that he was stuck standing—rooted to the spot where he had turned to see the _thing_ in their apartment. L's Wammy training kicked into high gear as he processed this information and he reminded himself that the World's Greatest Detective must remain aloof and impartial at all times and that was never as important as it was _now_ —L imagined the Shinigami could sense weakness like blood in the water. That fangy grin did bare a rather strong resemblance to that of a shark... "How is that different from, say, a... demon?" the detective asked, his self-preservation instinct kicking in just in time before asking the last part of that sentence: _"...aside from being uglier?"_

Ryuk shrugged. **"What's the difference between a lion and a tiger? We're kindred but different species and we have different ways of doing things... Though I'm not really sure if we're related to the tengu or the mermaids."**

"Ah..." L simply nodded and stared that haunting stare and Ryuk wondered if the human was simply processing the information or if his brain was broken. 

**"...I was pulling your leg about the mermaids,"** Ryuk said in a placating tone. **"They're just a human legend. They don't exist."**

"Of course," L nodded again slowly, satisfied that there was at least some rationality left in the world when he remembered the source and his brain broke again—but that didn't stop it from making deductions and leaps of logic. "What about to humans?" The detective asked. The creature did have a vaguely humanoid appearance and then there was Light... assuming he _WAS_ a demon, he had come from (as far as L knew) a human family. L tried not to smile as the Shinigami scratched his head in a movement that was comically similar to that of an orangutan. 

**"I suppose we might be related to humans too in a more distant way, but honestly I don't really think about the origins of my prey anyway."**

"Your prey?" L asked warily. 

L could've sworn that the ever-grinning monster just _rolled his eyes._ **"Yes _genius_ —Shinigami kill people. That's what I am—a God of Death! I feed on human life and can control how humans die! Do you intend to call the police on me? Hmmm? They can't even see me you know so you'd look like a crazy person. I mean, more than you already do."**

_Control how humans die?!_

Perhaps... _perhaps_ it was all an unfortunate coincidence... 

"Ryuk, are you Kira?"

Perhaps Light was innocent and this monster was the one behind the deaths? Perhaps... It was a long shot—if Light knew about the Shingami in his bedroom the detective doubted that Light could possibly be ignorant of the monster's eating habits—but still L found himself at least willing to entertain the possibility, even if it was .000000000001%. 

The creature looked taken aback. **"That's a dangerous question. Consider _who_ you're asking for a moment—I don't particularly like you, you know."**

Well that was hardly a new experience for the socially awkward detective, few people did and that was fine with him. "Then why don't you kill me?" L challenged for surely if the Shinigami was going to kill him he would have done it already—from the sound of it the creature had been observing him for quite some time and one generally didn't make polite conversation with someone they were about to feed on—unless of course he enjoyed toying with his food... L abruptly ended that line of thought. 

**"Do you really _want_ me to?"**

The Shinigami snickered in amusement as the detective's already wide eyes grew to the size of dinner plates but quickly made placating gestures towards the terrified man.

**"Hey, I'm not going to do anything to you. Light likes you for some reason and he doesn't want me killing his other roommates."**

"So you take orders from Light?" L prodded. 

Oh well, there went the "Light is totally innocent" defense down in flames. They did indeed know each other so that meant Light was, at the very least, an accessory to murder if not (more than likely) the mastermind as L had initially deduced. This had to be the first time L hated being right. 

L then noticed how the monster was staring at him in disbelief and for a horrifying moment he feared he had somehow offended the Shinigami with his blunt speech but Ryuk only laughed again. 

**"Naah. I don't work for him or anyone."**

Just when L was about to let out a sigh of relief the creature got in his face and L became nervous that the Shinigami was about to bite his head off... or kiss him. 

**"I'm just his roommate. His _other_ roommate,"** the Shinigami announced in a seedy voice. 

L felt a sudden, irrational stab of jealousy. _No, there was no way they're like that!_

**"I admit, I'm rather fond of the bastard—he's just _so much fun_ to hang out with. I told him getting another roommate was just a waste of space but if Light wants to keep you alive that's his business."**

_Well that was rude._ It suddenly struck the awkward detective that the monster was _jealous._ So no, they weren't like that, but from the sound of it the Shinigami wanted to be. 

"Ryuk... Is Light Kira?" L asked with a deceptively innocent face. It was worth a shot anyway. Like they say—Hell hath no fury than a monster scorned. 

**"You don't let up, do you? Does Light-o know you have a death wish?"**

"Is he?" L persisted. 

The Shinigami's monstrous grin stretched from ear to ear. **"Hmmm... Might be. He might not be. Even if I knew who Kira was I wouldn't tell you."** Ryuk wasn't on anyone's side but then again L was the competition to Light's affections and spilling the beans here would mean an end to his entertainment and his (nonexistent) chance of getting into Light's pants. 

L resumed his staring contest with the Shinigami (even though it was a contest he was destined to lose for unlike him the Shinigami didn't need to blink nor did it even seem to have eyelids) when the Shinigami revealed to L that he did indeed know Kira. Because if he didn't know who Kira was than wouldn't he just say no? Unless of course Ryuk said it that way just to mess with him—given Ryuk's personality that seemed a distinct possibility. 

"So Ryuk... do Shinigami like apples?" L continued conversationally. 

The monster drooled. **"Why? Ya' got any?"**

The more L spoke to the creature the more L became convinced it wasn't nearly clever enough to have figured out his name or his identity as L and so could only conclude that either a) Light figured it out and told Ryuk or b) the Shinigami just somehow mystically knew (maybe it could read his mind or magically see his name...)—L _REALLY_ hoped it was the former.

"Not at the moment, sorry," L said acerbically and not in the least bit apologetic. The creature looked momentarily deflated but immediately perked up again with all the enthusiasm of a little kid that had just been given a shiny new toy. It was jarring to see in a seven foot tall monster, to say the least. "But if I got you apples would you tell me who Kira is?" 

Ryuk cackled again. **"No... but if you got me apples I'd like you more."** L frowned as the thing just kept _giggling._ **"Hyuk. Hyuk. So... I guess all this means you're _our_ new roommate."**

 _Our..._

L looked distinctly uncomfortable as the monster leered at him but he stood his ground—though that he was currently pressed up against the desk as the thing leered closer and closer and he had nowhere else to escape to might have had something to do with it. 

Ryuk continued to cackle ominously. Naturally he wasn't very happy with L stealing "what was his" but the detective was amusing and Ryuk had promised Light he wouldn't kill him. But Ryuk reasoned that maybe he could scare off the competition if he told him some of Light's _other_ embarrassing secrets... 

**"So... Ryuuzaki. Did you know Light sings in the shower? Let's see how does it go? _~I wanna make a supersonic man out of you~_?"**

***

If anyone in the early morning work crowd cared to look up they would have seen a panicking demon shooting across the sky. Good thing no one looked up or if they did that no one cared if they were to see a certain red-winged demon gliding over the tops of the skyscrapers, which was fortunate—putting forward diabolical plans were so much easier with an apathetic citizenry. But that's not what Light was worried about—his new plan was going along smoothly—no, Light was panicking because when he returned to their hotel room Ryuuzaki wasn't there. Light hoped against hope that Ryuuzaki, _L_ , had just returned to their apartment rather than going back into hiding. But surely if he went into hiding he'd be back, right? He _couldn't_ just leave him! Light's wings beat harder. He was going so fast that by the time he reached his destination he nearly broke his wings when he made a jarring stop above his apartment balcony and rather than gracefully alighting on the balcony railing as he had intended, momentum carried him forward, through the open sliding door, and spilling into the apartment proper in a much less graceful crash. 

As expected, Ryuk laughed. **"I haven't seen him make a mistake like that since our first flying lesson! Ah, look how far we've come! _NOT!_ "**

A snide remark from Ryuk was expected. Having it not be addressed to _him?_ That was most _unexpected._ As was L (who had been trying not to laugh) stifled a giggle in response to said remark. 

Light looked on disbelievingly as he was pointedly ignored by both of them as if he hadn't just crashed into their apartment and the relief Light had been feeling upon sighting the familiar crow's nest of L's hair was quickly dashed as his concussed head slowly analyzed the situation: he was being ignored by a chatty Ryuk and a suspiciously grinning Ryuuzaki. Light lay where he had fallen, petrified with growing horror as he realized _He's talking to Ryuk!_

 _Do they already have the notebook? When did he touch it? How?! It should be safe there! That's only—The incense? Did it not burn down all the way? That must be—WHAT THE HELL WAS HE DOING STICKING HIS HANDS IN AN INCENSE BURNER! THE IDIOT!_

Light worked to pull himself up into a more dignified position than his current one he had landed in, sprawled prone upon the floor, too soon. His vision swam for a moment as he struggled not to blackout. Making a break for it wasn't an option. Sure he'd heal in a minute but even if the jig was up he wasn't going anywhere. The plan was still on; this just complicated things. He might have to up the schedule... 

But to Light's immediate confusion he quickly clued into the fact that Ryuk wasn't talking to Ryuuzaki about Kira or the Death Note. Had Ryuk already told him earlier? He said he wasn't on anyone's side. But then if Ryuk did blab or Ryuuzaki did figure it out... he had one hell of a poker face. Though what the Shinigami was telling the detective was no less horrifying, at least to Light's bruised ego: 

**"Anyway, do you _really_ think you're prepared to be his roommate? I mean he has this thing for barbequed chips! He's always getting that red greasy crap all over everything."**

Light could feel a vein popping in his forehead. 

_SHUT UP, RYUK!_

Tired of being ignored, Light got to his feet and quickly took stock of the situation—his lover and arch-nemesis was having a friendly chat with his ( ** _allegedly invisible_** ) roommate and accomplice about his ( ** _alleged_** ) character flaws. Light simply stared at them both and let voice to the only thing that could possibly describe this situation. 

_"What?!"_

"Oh, hello Light," L said in a casually flippant tone as if just noticing him there. "Ryuk was just telling me some _fascinating things..._ " By the rather disturbing smirk on the detective's face Light guessed that meant he now had enough blackmail material to last a lifetime. 

Light forced a rather strained smile "For the record it was only one time and it was only because a _certain idiot_ stole my clothes." Light tried to explain as he glared daggers at said idiot.

 **"Oh! I didn't even get to that story yet! That reminds me..."**

Light groaned and applied his palm directly to forehead.


	22. The Roommate From Hell

Light wore a strained smile as Ryuk kept sharing things that Light never wished spoken of and L just kept _grinning._ Enough was enough. 

“Ryuk… shut up.”

The monster turned his face split in a disturbing leer. **“Why should I? You know I don’t take sides. I’ll do whatever the hell I want! Which reminds me—you know that thing you’re so reluctant to do with me? You might want to change your mind if you don’t want me telling your little boyfriend _all_ your dirty little secrets…”**

Light folded his arms across his chest and glared murderously at the other monster. “No Ryuk. If you play this game and make such threats I can promise you I will never give you what you want. _EVER…_ And you will never see another apple again.”

 **“You say that anyway! In any case that’s what you say now but… ”**

“No, that’s never happening. Not even if we were the last beings left alive on Earth in some cold and distant future...” 

Ryuk grinned as he imagined how short that threat would last with his demonic libido. 

“Tell me what?” asked L with obvious interest. After all, what could possibly be worse than what he had already heard—unless of course Ryuk meant to tell him that Light was Kira. 

“Oh it’s nothing important, Ryuuzaki,” Light insisted, attempting to dismiss the matter and even affecting a suspicious little chuckle. 

**“Oh yes it is,”** the Shinigami leered, his demonic clown smile drawing back further, baring more fangs. **“What’s it worth to you, Light-o. Do you really want me to call your bluff?”**

“I think it’s clear he has no interest in sleeping with you, Shinigami-san,” L interrupted with his characteristic bluntness and demonstrating he was fully capable of reading between the lines. “And I assure you whatever this thing is that you’re alluding to… I already know it.” 

Light glanced at L askance. _Does he really know…?_

Ryuk looked puzzled. Then cackled sadistically as he added, **“Oh! So I take it you already know Light likes to watch _My Little Pony?_ ”**

“What?! I do NOT! _Take that back!_ ” 

Ryuk was too busy laughing so he failed to dodge a particularly well-aimed fireball. 

_“DAMN SHINIGAMI! YOU GET THE HELL OUT!”_ Light roared as the Shinigami scrambled to escape through the wall. 

Light sighed, slumping against his desk in exhaustion after he finished putting out the fires he’d started with a fire extinguisher. “He’ll be back.” 

“So… _My Little Pony,_ ” L said with obvious amusement. 

Light groaned and buried his face in his hands. “He’s lying! He’s a liar! You should never trust a single word he says!” 

“Really? But Ryuk said that Light-kun is in love with me…”

L watched in amusement as Light fidgeted awkwardly and attempted to do a verbal backspace over his previous words. 

“Well, _of course_ that’s true but I—well damn, I think Hell just froze over...” 

“You would know, wouldn’t you?” L hummed in amusement; mumbling around his fingernails in his usual rich baritone. 

Light’s heart raced. Even though it was only for a few hours, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d _missed_ being around Ryuuzaki and hearing that _damned sexy_ voice of his. 

“Okay, so Ryuk was right about _that_ but even a broken clock is right twice a day. But uh… anyway. Seriously, I’m not a Brony. Please. _You have to believe me._ ”

"Whatever you say, Light," L smiled briefly at Light's frantic denials that he watched children's cartoon shows before his mood soured again when he remembered why he was upset with Light and had taken to mentally referring to him as 'the asshole' in the first place. “Though I somehow doubt Ryuk is the only liar…” 

“Wha—where’s this coming from, Ryuuzaki?”

“Where were you, Light?” L demanded; his expression was hard and accusatory and perhaps even… jealous. 

“Hold that thought…” Light said as he retrieved a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a bouquet of blue lupins from his satchel and flashed a most charming smile. The bouquet had become slightly crushed thanks to his crash landing. But it’s the thought that counts, right? 

“Surprise!” 

Light quelled his growing amusement when the detective struck an almost catty pose with one hand on his hip and the other bringing a finger to his lips. Now was not the time to laugh—Ryuuzaki was clearly upset with him—and when Light looked at it from his perspective he saw that his Raven had good reason to be upset. 

L eyed the gifts suspiciously (of course the sweet-toothed detective always appreciated candy but the flowers were a bit over-the-top.) “I kind of find it hard to believe that you snuck out just to buy me presents, Light-kun. So, what did you do?”

“You think I did something just because I brought you a present? Nice.” 

“No,” L began, slowly drawing out the word as if it had three syllables, “I think you did something because you snuck out in the middle of the night and left me.” 

“Well damn, you got me there.”

 _“Light…”_

“Look, I’m sorry. I… I panicked, ok?”

“You… _panicked?_ ”

Light sighed. “I—I don’t have a great track record with relationships. Good things seldom happen to me— well at least not without a heavy price to pay. You know you’re the first person I could really _connect_ with and frankly… that _scares_ me.” 

“I… _scare you?_!”

“Yes. You do. But it’s exhilarating and… and _terrifying_ and… and this isn’t coming out right. I just… I _really_ like you Ryuuzaki...” 

L gaped as the younger man spoke so earnestly. _This seems genuine._ If this was an act then give this kid a damned Oscar! L was trained to read people—there were just some tells that couldn’t be faked and L was reading genuine emotion—Light _was_ genuinely besotted with him and also genuinely afraid.

_Perhaps, he’s going to confess to me that he is Kira? It’s working, I’m sure of it! I’m earning his trust—just a little bit more._

“Light-kun, what’s wrong? You can tell me.” L insisted as he drew in close, attempting to seduce the answers out of lover/suspect. The stoical detective managed not to react when he noticed what appeared to be a trace of blood on the rim of Light’s skinny blue jeans. 

“It’s stupid… I freaked out over a stupid nightmare. I just…. I realized just how much you mean to me and it… scared me. I’m just… _terrified_ of losing you. I’m sorry I left but I just really needed to get out for a minute—just to cool my head and rethink my priorities. I’m sorry; I realized later that I should have left a note but it was too late. By the time I got back you were gone. _I’m really sorry._ ” 

“Hmmm… Is that blood?” L inquired, or rather demanded, poking a long, bony finger into the rim of Light's pants. 

Light winced. He had changed clothes again but apparently what with everything else going on he had gotten sloppy about cleanup—that was not good at all! He couldn’t afford to get sloppy, _especially now!_

“It’s mine,” Light insisted as his lover gave him doubting looks. _Dammit, he can have the damned pants to prove it if that’s what it takes!_ “I was kinda… hit by a bus.” 

_“You were hit by a bus!”_

Light grimaced—Ryuuzaki seemed quite upset about that. 

“…Like I said I was panicking.”

 _“IDIOT!”_ L snarled with rare anger. L knew that Light was not that stupid! He had no right making him worry by _almost dying on him_ like that! Especially after the detective had made the difficult decision to go against his own vow to have Kira executed, having determined that the justice system was ill-equipped to deal with something like Light. L had determined that, _somehow,_ he was going to _save_ him. What had gotten into him?! The Kira that L knew would never be so careless! The Kira he knew would never take such stupid risks! How _DARE_ he—?!

L angrily, frantically, grabbed Light by the shoulders to further chew him out but Light took advantage of the contact to crash his lips into L’s in order to silence further argument.  


Try as he might L just couldn’t stay mad at Light. 

The detective melted against Light, moaning softly as he felt the demon’s hand rubbing against his ass. 

While Light distracted L he had rifled through his jeans pockets, disguising the motion as merely being amorously inclined as usual, and had discovered the slightly singed scrap of the notebook which had allowed L to see Ryuk. Light discreetly set it alight and then resumed his pawing lest L become suspicious. 

They both froze when the disturbing sounds of guttural catcalling emanated from within the apartment walls. L broke away to glower at their Shinigami voyeur. 

Secretly, Light was relieved for the interruption. He had acted rashly. He truly was reluctant to get intimate with Ryuuzaki _now_ —what with his nightmare of _killing him_ still fresh in his memory. Still it wouldn’t do to leave Ryuk with the impression that he was allowed to peep on them. 

“Ryuk… I’ll give you to the count of three to _get the hell out._ ”

 **“Oh c’mon, Light-o! Give a guy a break!”** Ryuk groaned as he casually ran a claw through his poor singed shoulder feathers. He wasn’t eager to catch another fireball. The Shinigami had been a bit depressed, as long as L was alive he didn’t have a chance in hell at screwing Light but then he found watching them was kind of hot… **“I didn’t know I’d been sexiled! Seriously, hang a sock on the door or something!”**

“Light, why _is_ he here, anyway?” L really had meant to question Light about his _other roommate_ earlier it was just… Light. Just being in his presence again was as _distracting as hell._ L feared it was making his deductive powers decrease as much as 90%! Still, L found he was more upset about the presence of the stupid mood-killer. 

“Er… well, he’s a friend of mine. Sort of. Well, he’s kind of a douche...” 

**“I am standing right here and you say that! Who’s the douche?”**

Light sighed again. “But it’s not like I can make him leave. As you can see, he always comes back. Like the party crasher that won’t leave.” 

“Er… How long has he been... crashing?”

Light flopped down dramatically onto his bed to stare tiredly at the ceiling—the previous night’s work and his mad flight across the city beginning to catch up with him. L stared hungrily, watching the rise and fall of Light’s bare chest, and quickly crawled into the bed with him. Light didn’t protest when L took to crouching obnoxiously on top of him.

“Jeez, it feels like ages,” Light murmured while absentmindedly rubbing circles around L’s bare ankle with his thumb. L took in a sharp intake of breath in response to Light’s rubbing. It was just as he suspected—his boyfriend had a foot fetish. 

**“You’re far too young to know what ages feel like!”** The Shinigami scoffed as he turned to the bewildered detective who was in all honesty trying his best to ignore the interloper as Light took to doing magical things to his feet. Light gave L’s toes an experimental flick of his forked tongue. That provoked a very interesting reaction as his raven fell backwards onto the mattress, giggling. 

**“You know that’s the downside of immortality.”** Ryuk grumbled, **“It’s as _boring as fuck._ Eventually it gets to the point where hanging out with a self-obsessed asshole looks like fun.”**

“Oh, you _wound me,_ ” Light added caustically, quite annoyed that Ryuk was still there.

The detective felt the need to ask the reasonable question: “Er… If you hate each other than why do you stick around him?” 

**“I like playing as Bowser.”**

Light nodded. “He’s got a severe video game addiction.”

L snorted. No doubt the monster would’ve gotten along very well with his Third-in-Line. 

“So…” L again addressed Ryuk “you’re not his mentor or something?” 

**“Huh?”**

“You know to… to teach Light how to be a proper demon?”

The room was silent for a full minute before Ryuk exploded in laughter, his entire body quaking in mirth as his deep rumbling cackles echoed off the apartment walls, **“As if he needs _me_ to teach him that! The kid’s already a “proper demon” in his own right! I’m so proud! Aw, I think I’ve got a tear in my eye.”**

“No, I don’t think he is. He’s been here long before this whole demon-thing started. He’s like, you know, my imaginary friend. Sometimes I even wondered if he was real. No one else can see him. Well, no one until today. Really, I’m surprised that you can see him too. Are you like… some kind of wizard or something?”

“I highly doubt it,” L murmured as he slouched and prowled forward on the mattress to stare down the younger man with his unblinking black eyes. While for whatever reason being around Light still seemed to be impairing his higher brain functions the legendary detective still maintained the ability to smell bullshit from a mile away. 

“Are you sure? _Because you’ve bewitched my heart._ ” Light sighed in a smitten fashion, and L’s mouth went dry as he watched those lovely long lashes drooping over his beautiful amber eyes. Light clutched his chest and for a second, L panicked—he had to assure himself that the younger man was just doing a bit of stupid, over-dramatic acting, that was in particularly poor taste, and not having a heart attack—the latter, naturally, was the first thing that had come to the detective’s mind. 

L rolled his eyes at his lover’s antics. “That is _so very cheesy_ and… W-what are you doing?” The eccentric man’s normally bugged out eyes bugged out further as Light drew close and began brushing his long dark bangs out of his eyes. 

“I’m looking for a lightning bolt shaped scar. Didn’t you say you’re from the U.K.?” 

L scowled. “No Light, I’m not Harry Potter.”

Light just smiled at this and stroked his Raven’s hair. 

Ryuk snickered as he observed the pair; earning him rather scary looks from both of them. Up until he laughed it seemed his presence there had again been miraculously forgotten. Ryuk gawked at that—was it really possible that, for a moment there, Light managed to make the world’s greatest detective forget that he had encountered a seven foot tall monster from another world?! Light’s demon mojo was some powerful stuff! Definitely not to be trifled with. The Shinigami slunk away through the wall. 

He’d come back and watch them later.


	23. Hellmouth

**_Bang! Bang! Bang!_**

L frowned blackly and wondered if the universe was conspiring to leave him frustrated—they were having a _moment_ dammit! Here he had Light, _Kira_ , repentant of his grievous crime of abandoning him and on his knees before him, about to give him head, when they were interrupted by a loud pounding on their door. First the Shinigami and now this! L hastily pulled back up his strawberry-patterned boxer shorts that Light had found so cute and amusing to give this latest interruption a piece of his mind!

L was so angry at the anonymous intruder that he managed to get there before Light had finished processing what had happened and of course L succeeded in "getting decent" faster because his idea of "getting decent" was to just pull on his strawberry-patterned boxers and nothing else. 

"Oh, God! Ryuuzaki, you can't answer the door like that—" Light began to protest but it was too late—the socially awkward man had already loped his way over to the door.

L threw the door open to discover that their unwanted visitor was a small, thin petite woman—all blonde pigtails and heavy makeup. Despite her diminutive stature L was sure she was most definitely a woman and not a girl—she wore a leather corset, lacy miniskirt and fishnets stockings that flaunted her figure and left little to the imagination. L, with his usual social grace, was about to ask if she was a prostitute who got the wrong room—this was a reasonable assumption when one took into account what the girl was wearing and that they were living right next door to Yakuza thugs. The detective was about to do the rude but (he thought) charmingly amusing thing of asking Light if he had hired a hooker when he spied the gold crucifixes dangling from her earrings and black leather choker and all of the detective’s biting comments died in his throat as he instead began to fear for Light's safety. 

L of course had also considered the option that she was there to hurt him in some way because the detective not-so-secretly thought everyone wanted to hurt him in some way (and he was usually right) and though the girl _looked_ harmless the detective knew all too well that looks could be deceiving. Or perhaps Light had acquired yet another crazy stalker (the detective tried to squash the horrible and irrational flaring of jealousy, along with the fear that should Light find out he’d take off flying with him in tow. He _REALLY_ didn’t want to deal with that again!) But then another, _far worse_ possibility crossed the detective’s mind—the girl was covered in Gothic crucifixes. In the unlikely event that Light _was_ really demon then could a cross harm him like in the old myths? The salt seemed to cause him problems—who knew what other myths were true? If Shinigami existed and demons existed…? (Maybe… assuming he wasn’t hallucinating. The jury was still out but L would have _loved_ to have a more rational explanation for all of this.) And the way the girl was dressed she could’ve just stepped out of a certain supernatural teen drama and was on her way to stake vampires and slay demons…L was unconscious of the way he moved protectively into the door frame so that Light would be obscured from view.

“Yes? Did you want something?” the detective inquired; affecting a bland, bored tone.

“I… er…” the girl fidgeted awkwardly.

L sometimes forgot that he made for quite an intimidating figure when he was angry—yes, even when wearing strawberry-patterned boxer shorts.

Especially when wearing strawberry-patterned boxer shorts.

Misa gaped at the weirdo who answered the door in nothing but his underwear. Though the detective was of a slender build he was _ripped_ from his Capoeira practice. Misa found herself thinking of him as “cute” in a kind of quirky way… but he was totally not her type! _Totally!_ She had already fallen in love at first sight with her God, Kira! The stranger was pretty hot though—the man’s dark mane was even more disheveled than usual and coupled with his normal looks and the obvious anger he wasn’t even bothering trying to mask it made him look very dangerous—like he’d just escaped from like a prison or a mental institution or maybe even Azkaban. Misa reasoned he was probably some kind of gross hikikomori type and he was obviously some kind of…

“What are you looking at, you pervert!” Misa snapped defensively when the weird slouching man gave her a questioning stare.

“I-” L blushed. The question floored him. L hadn’t considered himself to be a pervert but he supposed the things Light had him doing were by definition pretty perverted but then that was hardly any of this stranger’s business. L stifled a rare laugh. This girl shows up on his door step and just _assumed_ that he wanted her—that was pretty damned funny. The only reason he was looking at her was because he was assessing a stranger—a stranger that had interrupted the Very Important Things he had been doing with Light. And, L noted, she was staring at him too—didn’t that make her just as perverted? And really, what did she _expect_ leaving her house wearing something like _THAT?_

" _I'm_ a pervert?" L asked incredulously. 

L watched in bemusement as the girl's eyes drifted upward to stare at a fixed point above his head and the detective experienced a most unpleasant sense of déjà vu— _B_ used to look at him just like that. L shuddered; he wasn't sure what prompted the mental comparison but now that it was there it wouldn't go away. 

Misa blanched when she read the pervert's name.

 _L Lawliet?! As in THE L?! Kira's sworn enemy?! But this is Light Yagami's apartment? What would L be doing in Kira's apartment?! And he's not even dressed properly!_ Misa unconsciously tightened her grip around her custom black, bat-winged purse where she had concealed her notebook. _L, Kira’s greatest enemy! I can kill him right now!_

"Oh, _Ryuuzaki.._ " 

L squeaked in surprise when Light snuck up behind him, snaking his arms around his waist and began shamelessly kissing his throat. 

"I hope you weren't planning on asking this handsome guy out because I don't regret to tell you that this belongs to me." 

" _Li-Light-kun!_ " Light was pleased to see how he could make the other’s pale skin blush adorably. Meanwhile their half-forgotten visitor stared at them both in shock. Misa watched L tip his head back, moaning softly, while Kira nibbled at his neck. The blonde stood there drooling at them, torn between jealousy and arousal—mostly arousal seeing as Light's demonic pheromones were impairing her higher brain functions—the only thought going through her mind at the moment was _that's hot—I want in._ Misa pouted slightly when some force hindered her from jumping either of the very sexy guys.

Meanwhile as Light laved at L’s neck he caught a movement behind the girl out of the corner of his eye. 

_Dammit, Ryuk! What are you—_ Light's blood froze. It wasn't Ryuk. A faint outline of a looming shade began to form in Light's field of vision. No, not a shade—Light blinked and could see the bone white claws that gripped the girl’s shoulder—restraining her from throwing herself at him just like everyone else Light had met in the past few months. The demon concentrated on the half-seen horror while he continued getting frisky with L so he, hopefully, wouldn’t notice his divided attention. His effort paid off when the blur he caught out of the corner of his eye coalesced into the form of a Shinigami.

" _I can see them sometimes,_ " his mother had said. She told him that she could sometimes see Ryuk. _Could it be? This girl is being followed by a Shinigami? There was another Death Note owner active in the human world?!_

**"You can see me? Can you hear me?"** The Shinigami must have caught him staring.

Light averted his gaze and inclined his head slightly to indicate he had heard the Shinigami speak—Light hoped that L wouldn't notice but then, even if he did, surely just tossing his hair wasn’t that suspicious? But then this was L. As an added precaution Light kept pawing at the detective lest he get too suspicious...

The Shinigami gave him a grudging, respectful bow. **"Please forgive us, O Fallen One! I beg of you, please spare her! Punish me if you must. But please leave the girl alone! Please! I swear we will not trouble you or your... human."**

His anger must have shown through as Rem drew closer, holding Misa back and Light unconsciously clutched L tighter to him and an unspoken understanding passed between them: _Don't kill my human. If you kill mine I'll kill yours._

As usual Light masked his emotions and pretended that nothing was wrong for Ryuuzaki’s sake but inside his mind was in turmoil. Provided that the Shinigami kept his word, the girl kept quiet, and they didn’t kill them then his new plan should cover this unfortunate, unforeseen scenario but he hated the uncertainty and having to rely on the word of a Shinigami. But then, really—what choice did he have? 

But damn, it was irksome to think that there was another person out there that had Kira’s power! Light didn’t like to think that just anyone could pick up a notebook and gain his power.

_Surely, SURELY this bimbo wasn't chosen to rid the world of evil! If any other Gods do exist than they are surely mocking me. Could it be that it really was all just a random accident? I didn't want to believe that just anyone could have this power—it's too horrible to imagine. What if this power fell into the wrong hands? Someone less responsible than I am? What if someone like Sudou picked it up? Everyone in school might be dead! Or what if it fell into the hands of the mob? Or terrorists?_

_That's the thing—I didn't **want** to believe it. I ignored the possibility, the evidence in front of me, because I didn't like the answer. Maybe… just maybe I got a bit carried away with all this. Maybe I deluded myself a bit on certain things—all the more reason to go with the new plan... I can't just keep telling myself what I want to hear. It's too dangerous! Ryuuzaki—I won't lose you again!_

Light gave no reaction to the Shinigami other than to glance quickly and pointedly down the hall in a silent command: 

_Leave._

Anything more was sure to tip L off about the girl if the idiot hadn’t managed to do it herself already.

 **"Thank you! Come _on,_ Misa."** Rem attempted to get the blonde to leave but the girl yet stood there, transfixed and drooling. Misa spared Rem a glance and was puzzled at how terrified the Shinigami appeared. **"Misa, he's an incubus. A soul-sucking demon! He'll just use you!"**

_So? That would be one Hell of a way to go..._

**_"Misa!"_**

_Oh, shut up Rem! Can't you see that I don't care!_

The Shinigami moved so that she was blocking the Kira and L strip show from view. 

**"Misa, please _look_ at the situation!"**

Misa pouted as she thought. _I WAS looking but now you're in the way..._

**"Light Yagami and L Lawliet are living together and they are currently in varying states of undress. Light is kissing L. Now what does that suggest?"**

After several such attempts Misa was finally able to string a coherent thought together through the haze of hormones: 

_He's gay?! They’re gay?! Kira and L are TOGETHER?!_

**"Misa, I'm sorry but he doesn't need you! Please listen to me! If you try to interfere with them you'll be killed!"**

_Kira and L?! Kira and... Kira… Kira doesn't need my help and I'd just be a burden to him. I'm putting him in danger even now! If I say the wrong thing he could be caught and..._

**"Misa, please. Just make up an excuse and get out of there!"** her Shinigami entreated. 

Misa finally found her voice again and channeling all of her greatly renowned acting talents she gave L a winning smile and then said with a completely straight face "Did you know that God loves you? That he has a special plan for your life?"

L frowned and shut the door without a word. 

"Have a nice day! Jesus loves you!" Misa chirped brightly from behind the closed door. 

Light forced a laugh. "I would have never have guessed... did you see what she was wearing? Do you think it's some kind of new recruiting technique?" 

The detective squashed down his natural suspicion. Of course L had noticed how the girl had gone all slack-jawed staring at them but thought nothing of it—he was finding that they got that reaction a lot and if L had noticed that Light seemed wary of the girl, well the detective knew that Light had good reason to be given how people normally behaved around him.

L heaved a sigh of relief. "You know for a moment there I was afraid she was a Slayer?" 

The demon laughed again, more genuinely this time. "Now... where were we?" Light asked with hooded eyes.

"Oh, that's right..." L smirked mischievously as he shoved Light down and his simpering expression grew to epic proportions when the other man enthusiastically ripped off his strawberry boxers and began slowly tracing a line of drool along his length with that marvelously strange forked tongue.

"Light-kun is a tease," The detective gave out a strangled moan when Light again began to envelop him with that sinful, wet, hot as hell mouth of his. 

" _Oh god!_ " L groaned as he attempted to remain standing by bracing himself up against the door, his other hand got to work pulling on the younger man's hair as he began to fuck his mouth in earnest. 

Yes, they would do their own pounding at the door.

Meanwhile outside Misa and Rem could hear them going at it right through the thin apartment walls.

 **"You know in his true form he probably looks something like me."** Rem tried to console her heartbroken charge as she insisted they put distance between them and certain death. Misa made a face but then imagined Light with wings and cute little fangs. 

_Maybe that wouldn't be too terrible… in fact that might be kind of hot…_ and thus made herself sadder. 

**"We can't kill him I'm afraid. He’s a demon. He's immune to the power of the Death Note and if we killed L we'd only upset him and then he would kill you..."**

Misa only half-listened to Rem’s explanations—she was still very much in shock over the revelation that Kira was gay with L.

"I don't want to kill him," Misa murmured dejectedly as she made her way home, far away from L, Kira, and other things she didn't fully understand. Misa maintained her mask of being the perky teen idol until she’d absconded to her own apartment across town. Once the door was safely shut behind her she screamed to the otherwise empty rooms: _"I WAS SUCH AN IDIOT!"_

**"It's not your fault!"** Rem insisted. **"Incubae by their very natures entrap unsuspecting humans! They are made to look beautiful—You're crying..."** Rem paused mid-rant to look at the girl with much concern as she sunk, despondently into her loveseat.

"Of course I'm crying. I'm hurt, Rem. Things didn't work out the way I wanted," Misa sniffled. "But... but I see now it would never have worked out between us anyway." 

Rem growled protectively **"Misa, if you want... I can try to kill him. I don't care if he destroys me..."**

"No, Rem! I told you I don't want him dead! Kira brought justice for me and my family! Maybe he wasn't what I was expecting but that doesn't make him any less of a hero to me! Of course I want him to be happy! I just never thought he'd be happy with _L_ of all people..." 

_I never even considered the possibility that Kira might be gay even though I saw that he was having dinner with another man and he ignored all those other girls that were throwing themselves at him, and come to think of it he had been wearing some very pink... _ribbons_ or something under his hoodie... perhaps it actually was a fashion statement and not for the sake of breast cancer awareness..._

"This is my fault, not his! I was so _stupid!_ I didn't know him! I never met him! But I made all these assumptions about what he was like when really the man I fell in love with never existed. Of course Kira is his own person! But I can't believe I was this stupid! That I bought into all that romance novel crap! Love at first sight? Knights in shining armor? Please! The stupidest thing is I'm _NOT_ that stupid, really! I just got caught up in this _fantasy_ and I wanted so badly for something to go right! I couldn't help Kira! I couldn't save my parents! I am _completely_ useless! I should just di—"

 **"You're not useless!"** Rem snarled sternly. Misa made a startled sound when she was suddenly hugged by the Shinigami. **"And you can do so much better than settling to be a pawn for Kira! I'll do anything to make you happy, Misa."**

"R-Rem, do you mean?"

"Yes. I-I love you, Misa." 

Misa wasn’t sure how she felt about that but then it was nice to have someone that appreciated her— it was nice to be needed by _someone._ Until now, Misa had thought she could have anyone she wanted but the only one she wanted was in love with someone else. Misa realized that no one else knew her or cared for her like Rem did—that in itself was rather depressing but then she hadn’t really meant to make Rem sad... 

"I-I don't know what to say..." Misa spoke into the Shinigami's hauntingly sad yellow eyes. 

**"That's okay. I just want you to know that I'll be there for you, Misa. No matter what."**

"I'm... glad. I'm glad you're here, Rem. I don't... I don't really know what to do now."

Rem frowned. **"Perhaps we should leave this place..."** The further they got away from that _demon_ the better...

Misa instantly brightened as she thought it over. She had made enough money with her acting and modeling career to last a lifetime if she was careful. 

_Today has opened my eyes..._

She wasn't needed and her staying here put both her and Kira in danger.

Misa began making plans. 

"We could tour India... and then we could backpack through Europe... and then after things calm down a bit maybe I could break into Hollywood!"

She was alive and there was a whole world out there to explore—plenty of fish in the sea and all that. And then Rem was always there for her. Rem would always care—no matter what.

Misa shouldered her bag.

"Let's go, Rem!" chirped the blonde as she skipped off into the sunset, her Shinigami gliding along protectively behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A/N:** 1) A happy ending for Misa for once. In this AU Misa never sent the tapes to Sakura TV and so can make a clean break. 2) Light sees Rem because he’s a demon and so he’s magic. 3) Rem is a female but Light assumes Rem to be male unless he’s told otherwise and so thinks of her using male pronouns.


	24. Physical

"So... I remain anonymous and no one knows about this, right?" Light asked as he followed L into the examination room in an adorably self-conscious way that the detective was 98% sure was just an act and an attempt to throw him off-guard. If it was an attempt to throw him off-guard it failed miserably. L was most definitely on his guard because this was all too easy...

Light would never want to admit it but he was a bit nervous. The perfectly clean room appealed to his OCD but with his heightened demonic senses it was a bit much-it was clean, blindingly white, and the flickering of the florescent lights irritated his eyes. There was also the fact he was about to expose himself to L's scrutiny... The teen hopped up on the examination table and idly swung his legs as his lover/nemesis readied the necessary equipment. As promised, Light had agreed to allow L to "study him" and hadn't tried to get out of their arrangement. For their deception Watari had bought out a lab facility from a local conglomerate called Yotsuba and renamed it "Bane Pharmaceuticals." Now, marketing wasn't his forte but the detective wished that he’d come up with a better name. 

"Yes, that’s correct," L answered Light's question without missing a beat. 

Meanwhile, behind the one-way mirror in the room next door the taskforce cringed and murmured darkly as L lied to the Chief's son. Of course such deceptions were necessary for the investigation but they didn't have to like it. Especially when it _looked_ like the kid really thought the world of Ryuuzaki and bought it entirely...

L then turned to one of the more prominent cameras and began to lecture "Our subject, who has requested anonymity, shall here to be referred to by the alias 'Darkus Asahi'..." (Light shot him an irritated look but L was unfazed as he hit his stride at playing the role of medical examiner.) "...is an eighteen year old male from the Kanto region of Japan..." 

"But... are so many cameras _really necessary,_ Ryuuzaki?" the teen interrupted, eying the ominous multitude of cameras and recording equipment warily. 

**"There's even more in the walls!"** Ryuk added helpfully and Light's left eye twitched in irritation. 

_So **that's** how he knew he was under surveillance. The Shinigami MUST have been helping him._

L automatically began to bring his thumb up to his lips to chew on it as usual when he remembered that he had just sterilized his hands and if he put them in his mouth he’d have to clean them again. 

"Don’t worry," L assured him. "I promise you're face will be edited out—" 

Light smiled and gave him one of his utterly fake laughs. "Of course. I trust you, Ryuuzaki. You know I have nothing to hide from you... and I suppose we could always make a porno afterwards...” 

L dropped his tray of "doctor's tools" with a clatter. 

"Er... Did I just say that last bit out loud?"

"Yes, Darkus-kun..." the detective said tersely. "Yes, you did." 

L couldn't believe how unreserved Light was being now when he _must know_ that they had voyeurs. Even in the unlikely event that Light hadn’t guessed about the taskforce he knew about _Ryuk_ at least. Perhaps the teen had exhibitionist tendencies... 

Light could feel the bead of sweat trailing down the side of his face. _Well at least there is no way this could possibly get any more awkward..._

***

"Hey guys? How would they make a porno when there aren’t any girls around?" inquired the village idiot. 

The Chief paled and Aizawa could feel a vein popping in his forehead. _"Shut up, Matsuda!"_

Watari had already dropped the bombshell to the taskforce that L found it necessary to begin a relationship with the suspect in order to keep his cover intact but apparently Matsuda had missed that announcement as well as the office gossip that followed because he was out getting coffee or being generally useless as usual. Naturally there had been quite an uproar over that particular revelation—particularly from Light's father, the Chief of Police. L had never been subject to such a scalding interrogation before. (With the shoe on the other foot it was almost enough for L to pity some of his suspects... _almost._ ) For one of the few times in his life L had found himself forced to defend his actions— and he had. L argued that though they were admittedly not very ethical they were perfectly legal and Light was old enough to make his own decisions. For some reason the selling point, the coup de grace that got the boy's father to seemingly calm down and finally put the gun away, was when L admitted that he was the submissive partner in their relationship. Even the great detective was stumped as to why that seemed to matter. As a father, Aizawa could sympathize with the Chief but on the other hand if Ryuuzaki was gay that meant that at least his daughter was safe from "investigation..." 

***

"Now, I need you to change and get undressed for me please, Darkus-kun." L instructed, affecting an apathetic tone. 

Light laughed again "Surely, you mean the other way around... because I like this shirt." 

The detective grinned sharply "Well, I suppose that would make our porno more dramatic..." 

The teen rolled his eyes, hopped off the exam table, and began unbuttoning his black silk dress shirt. 

"No, Ryuuzaki. I'm not ruining this shirt or… or for that matter getting arrested for public exposure just to make your porno more dramatic." 

"What a shame..." L muttered.

"What's a shame?" Light asked as he left his shirt folded on the chair next to the exam table and began undoing his pants. "Me not ruining my shirt or me not getting arrested?"

"Both."

***

Behind the glass Matsuda fought down a blush as the Chief's son began to disrobe. "Er... What does he...? Why is he making him get changed if he's making him get undressed?" 

The other taskforce members promptly shushed him but they were no doubt wondering the same thing. The awkwardness and tension hung in the air like a dark, ominous cloud looming over their observation room. Just what were they expected to see here? Aizawa had found it suspicious, to say the least, that L had tried to persuade Chief Yagami not to attend. Of course Souichiro had insisted on being there. He wanted to protect his son (even if he wasn't thrilled to learn about the whole "gay thing") and if Light was Kira, he no doubt wanted, no _needed_ to know... 

The taskforce watched with growing confusion—in more ways than one. Aizawa was now trying, in vain, to dislodge the errant thought that had somehow invaded his brain that if Light Yagami was a woman he would totally want to screw him. Hell, if he took him from behind maybe he could pretend... The kid was just too damn sexy! Even the idea that he might just be the world's most wanted criminal, (the mass murderer Kira, the devil incarnate...) didn't dissuade this idea from taking hold. In fact it somehow only added to the appeal. Aizawa tried to remind himself that this was the _Chief's son_ he was thinking inappropriate thoughts about but his dick wasn’t listening. Even imagining the stupid, sexy teenager as looking more like his father with glasses, graying hair, and a mustache failed to be a turn off. Aizawa got no peace from the knowledge that everyone else seemed to be having similar problems and the Chief had abruptly turned away. Perhaps they had been unfair to Ryuuzaki...

***

"I'm afraid the hospital gown just wasn't made for, you know..." the detective declared while wearing a suspiciously wicked grin on his face. 

"Now, that's utter bullshit. Hospital gowns open in the back. They'd easily accommodate everything. You just want to see me naked," Light accused. 

"Guilty as charged, Darkus-kun."

"Ryuuzaki..." 

"I'm sorry, Darkus-kun. But you know I cannot resist you. Is there any way I can make this more comfortable for you?" 

Light seemed to consider for a moment. "Maybe if you wore a nurse's outfit..." 

L frowned. "I was being serious, Darkus-kun." 

"So was I. I bet you'd make it look damned good on you, too." Light mentally claimed victory when the detective's cheeks took on a notably pink tinge. 

Light cleared his throat. "Alright, I'm changing now." Light announced for the benefit of his audience. The teen then doubled over in pain as he triggered the change. His great red bat-like wings billowed out of his back. 

***

 _"What the hell is this?!"_ Aizawa shouted as the rest of the taskforce gasped or made sickly noises. L had told them he’d made some big breakthrough in the case but dammit; he could've warned them that the Chief's son would be _turning into a monster!_

_Oh God—the Chief!_ The man was suddenly looking deathly pale...

***

"Did you get good footage of that or did you want me to do it again?" Light asked innocently. 

L only smiled at the return of a certain long, red, squamous, waving part of the boy's anatomy. Hello Light's tail. The detective stared in his particularly piercing way—though Light still wore the same expression of innocence and adorable nervousness his tail was swishing playfully—Light's tail betrayed the fact that the boy was _oh-so amused_ by the whole situation. L stared at his lover/suspect in confusion and suspicion. _He KNOWS what I’m doing, he HAS to, and he's still going along with it. Why?_

L also wondered about something he had momentarily glimpsed that he hadn't been privy to before during Light's past transformations-the detective had noticed the vicious-looking hooked claws that Light quickly retracted back into his hands. L also noted how the teen trembled slightly as he did so as if he was weak with hunger. 

"No, that's... sufficient, Darkus-kun. Are you alright?" 

Light nodded and steadied himself against the examination table. "Yeah. Changing is a bit uncomfortable but you get used to it. I don’t feel much discomfort anymore though as you well know when I'm in this form I get... er... hornier." 

"I'll say," the detective grinned, his fingers oh-so-daintily poking at Light's horns on the way to stroking his hair. Though the great detective was quite obvious about the fact that he wasn’t eyeing his _horns._

Light cleared his throat. "So... are we actually doing this or did you just rent the building to enact your sexual fantasies?" 

"Whatever are you talking about? Darkus-kun is the one making such suggestive comments. Now hold still..." L made a point of touching him very clinically and professionally. He was still causing the younger man to develop a problem. Light didn't know why L felt the need to measure his wingspan and when the detective began playing with his tail he was _sure_ he was just messing with him. The teen fought down a blush when Ryuuzaki took the measuring tape to his junk. 

"Is that _really_ relevant information, Ryuuzaki?"

"Yes. Please hold still," L insisted. 

Light buried his face in his hands as L loudly announced his penis length in centimeters for the recording devices and whoever else he had watching this. 

"On the 28th of February, 2007 the subject reportedly discovered strange growths on his body—specifically on his _squama frontalis_ , both _scapula_ , and the _coccyx_ ," L continued lecturing to the cameras in between making measurements and touching him inappropriately. "The subject reportedly 'just woke up that way...' The symptoms come and go. As we’ve just observed the change in the subject can be triggered as a conscious choice. It can also be changed as an autonomic response to certain external stimuli..."

"Ryuuzaki..." 

"Yes, Darkus-kun?”" 

"Are you pretending to be a doctor or a coroner?" 

L flashed him another dangerously wide smile, even creepier than the previous ones (hell, this one was worthy of _Ryuk_ ), as he very audibly snapped on the latex gloves. "A nurse, of course, Darkus-kun. And as you know this is a _full physical_. Lie down on the table, please." 

Light felt the cold metal of the exam table against his bare skin even through the stupid paper sheet as he lay face down upon it. The teen then tried to force himself to relax which of course didn't work at all.

Though perhaps L helped with that—never one to be conventional, L climbed up onto the exam table with him, crouching above his "patient" in his trademarked squat. L frowned at how tense his lover was. At this rate Light was going to clench up and hurt himself during his prostate exam. He’d make him relax before showing him the fun part. L gently massaged the boy's back around his shoulder blades, between the wings until the teen melted into a mess of satisfied sighs. No doubt this was looking like the porno Light had proposed they make to the watching investigators. L gently pushed the demon's now-drooping tail out of the way. L kept up the motions of idly running a hand down his back, between his wings, in order to keep him relaxed as he began the exam. Light grunted slightly as L's cold, wet finger got well-acquainted with his ass. L almost startled in surprise when his dom let out a pleasured gasp and sent him a pleading look over his shoulder.

Light had wondered if he would still be a danger to Ryuuzaki if he let him top. After all, he was an incubus, not a succubus—the demon that "lies on" not "lies below." It appeared to be a loophole and Light, of course, liked finding loopholes. However he wasn't too eager to give up control. Though Light had discovered when he had experimented with a vibrator that his body didn't try to go into draining mode. But then, it was a toy, not a living, breathing person, and perhaps his body wasn't fooled. That was as far as his research went in that area. He hadn't wanted to risk losing control with L and he hadn't wanted to get fucked by criminals. In any case he wasn't even sure it would have worked and he hadn't wanted to experiment on Ryuuzaki. But now Ryuuzaki had made the choice for him. As Ryuuzaki slowly stretched him out and poked around inside him Light _knew_ his demonic Instincts were silent. He didn't have to fight against his body and he wasn't trying to drain him.  
This was indeed a loophole. 

Light bit back a curse. 

Even if it was a loophole the teen knew he wouldn’t want to quit topping Ryuuzaki. And what if Ryuuzaki got a taste for it and wanted to top him every time? He didn't want this to turn into a pissing contest every time he tried to bed him. Light wasn’t even sure if he really liked this or not. When he'd experimented with his fingering himself it felt kind of interesting and when Light had tried the toy It got... pretty intense after awhile but going in it had _hurt like hell._ (Perhaps he had been too impatient about wanting results...) 

Light decided, to his chagrin, that he'd been doing it wrong. When L did it, it wasn't so bad. He could feel things stretching inside but it didn’t hurt at all. The teen let out a surprised gasp as his boyfriend gently prodded at his insides until his muscles relaxed. Ryuuzaki worked his finger inside of him with care and it was good. 

L paused in his prodding when his "patient" suddenly broke out into a fit of uncontrolled giggles and smiled at him "You know, Ryuuzaki I've never bottomed before but I'm kind of seeing what the appeal is now..." 

L paused in his ministrations. "Never?"

Of course, Light still wouldn't want to bottom every time but he wouldn't be averse to doing this for Ryuuzaki on occasion... "Did you want to fuck me?" he asked though the answer was obvious. Light could see that L was practically drooling over him. 

L drew back as if he'd been burnt feeling more than a little queasy at the thought of what he was subjecting his lover too. He doubted very much that Light would have made such an offer if he knew that his father was watching. 

"L-let's try and keep this professional." 

Light giggled again and his tail idly brushed against his "nurse L" mischievously. " _Right._ "

L swallowed hard. Even if the teen already had guessed they were being watched _he_ couldn't let on that they were being watched and the teen was so very tempting without even trying...

"You know, I can give you a massage as well..." L said quietly in his seductive baritone. "And maybe I'll take you up on your offer somewhere more comfortable?" Light shivered, both from L's continual probing and at the hot breath that was ghosting against the shell of his ear. 

So much for being professional.


	25. His Heart Is Not So Foolish

Chief Yagami was not a sexual creature. Even as a young man he was married to his job and the pursuit of justice above all else. Though against all odds he had eventually “settled down” and started a family as was expected of him—he got a wife and a house and a couple of kids and then for some inane reason that had better helped his career than years of work put in and countless cases solved—only once he was married with a family was he suddenly regarded as “very reliable” and “responsible” enough for a series of promotions. However, once he had a family he wasn’t sure what the hell he was supposed to _do_ with it other than some vague notion that it was his duty to care for them and handle discipline. Oh he tried to be a good father but he was all too aware that he was only human. That’s why he left the everyday running of things to Sachiko (his wife, the saint, the only woman he’d ever really loved) so when Sachiko told everything was fine that was all he really needed to know. Unless there was a problem he really had little contact with them. The only regular problem he knew about was Sayu shirking her homework. Alright, Light might have had a few problems when he was younger but he was a fast learner—he was quick to learn what was and what was not appropriate behavior and Souichiro was confident that he wouldn’t embarrass him again. Really, the most trouble he ever had from Light was that he was over-eager to begin helping the police as a child. (Souichiro was also confident that he talked him out of that once he gave him that warning about interfering in an active police investigation and made sure he understood the gravity of the situation; that unless proper procedure was followed the bad guy would walk free.) So aside from his having a few sissy hobbies like fashion and sewing and being a bit… odd for the most part Souichiro could agree with Sachiko’s assessment that Light was the perfect son. In retrospect he should have suspected then that Light wasn’t exactly inclined to be heterosexual. 

Alright, he had learned that his son was involved with his boss, the Great Detective L—the boorish, _hikikomori_ man-child with piss-poor dietary and hygiene habits. Yes, _that_ L. Even if L was of the female persuasion the Chief frankly didn’t see the appeal. So you could say he was still adjusting to that idea… He wasn’t at all happy about it. Had he not been L the Chief probably would have arrested him for being a pedo crack addict the second he began sniffing around his son. However for the sake of the case and clearing his son’s name the Chief would just have to put off any confrontation about their unusual relationship and do his best to ignore the many things that made him uncomfortable… 

“He is so hot…” hissed the voyeur next to him. His breath came hot and heavy and it fogged up the observation window. 

“ _MATSUDA!_ ” Aizawa scolded. 

The rookie winced. He was unaware he’d spoken aloud. 

Souichiro just gaped at the other officers that were currently swooning over his son. 

_How the hell did this happen? Sure Light has always been a handsome child but, but this—! What the hell was this?! And L! That bastard! He’s just using the investigation as a pretext to… to climb all over him! Sure Light might have been hiding a couple of things but…_ Naturally seeing Light transform had been a shock to the assembled taskforce but it was far easier to go into denial about it. It had to be some sort of trick or... a joke! It had to be for what he had just witnessed was completely impossible. The Chief turned away from the window. He just _couldn’t_ watch this anymore or he was liable to do something that he… or more accurately that _L_ would regret.  
Not that he liked the other officers ogling his son any better. To think up until recently he had only ever worried about Sayu marrying a cop. Why did things have to go and become so complicated? Why couldn’t things just go back to the way things were? 

Souichiro regarded the drooling taskforce with discomfort. Just what the hell was going on here? They weren’t… well, he wasn’t so sure about Matsuda but he was pretty sure that the rest of the taskforce wasn’t gay. Well, Aizawa at least… he was married and had family!

“…That was entirely inappropriate!” As the Chief again watched the whole sordid scene unfolding he became aware of Aizawa’s continued scolding of Matsuda. And felt relief that at least Aizawa had retained his sanity… “…and as if you’d have a chance in hell at tapping that ass!”  
Neither Aizawa nor Matsuda noticed how the Chief seized and clutched his chest next to them. 

***

“Light-kun…” the detective called softly. The younger man seemed not to hear him. He had ignored the invitation to sit in one of those cheap, rickety hospital chairs in favor of frantically pacing the length of the once-white coffee-stained tile floor—at the moment he had too much nervous energy to remain seated for long anyway.

“Light-kun is going to wear a hole in the floor with all his pacing.” L frowned when he received no response; his boyfriend was clearly too worried to even acknowledge his teasing. 

“You can see him now, _hot stuff._ ” The nurse purred and then blinked in awkward confusion clearly disturbed and embarrassed by her own behavior. Light ignored her entirely—even when she tried to cling to him as he rushed by.

“ _DAD!_ ” The flustered teen shouted as he came bursting through the hospital doors; a flailing mess of awkward limbs trailing in after him. The world’s greatest detective panted as he tried to keep up with the younger man; (again noting that Light could run quite fast when given the incentive) and joined him at Souichiro’s bedside.

“At first I thought it was Kira when I was going own but… er… it turns out I’ve just been pushing myself too hard lately,” The Chief told them (he was proud that he only slightly fumbled over his words.) 

Yes, that was Souichiro’s story and he was sticking to it. There was no sense in making his son feel inordinately guilty for circumstances out of his control. What kind of parent would _do_ that? And while he deeply disturbed by the glimpse he’d been given into his son’s sex life (and maybe he had entertained fantasies of shooting L’s balls off along with gunning down anyone who ever looked at his son wrong) for his family’s sake he would _try_ to be accepting. He wasn’t even about to bring up the weird otaku Cosplay thing Light had been wearing earlier (that was _obviously_ the only explanation that made sense. What was he supposed to be anyway? A demon or a Shinigami or something? He remembered reading something that said Shinigami seemed to be popular in manga these days...) 

Meanwhile, L caught the flash of discomfort on Light’s face before it was masked. Light knew he couldn’t afford to look guilty around L but his father’s words really twisted the knife.

 _I never meant to hurt you, dad._ “You shouldn’t worry so much, dad. I mean, I hear they’ve even got L working the case! I’m sure it will come to an end soon!” 

L stared at his boyfriend/suspect throughout this particular exchange—Light sounded and looked so sincere that… _It’s kind of hard to believe that this is the face of a mass-murderer…_ L shook his head and wondered just what he was missing. _Light Yagami. What are you planning?_

“So, Light…” the chief cleared his throat. “I heard you and Ryuuzaki are uh...” The chief looked pointedly between the two of them. Well L looked normal for L but in his haste to get here Light’s black, button-up dress shirt was buttoned up wrong and inside-out and his normally perfect hair matched L’s own “style” seeing as it was in a messy, sweaty disarray with his auburn locks sticking up every which way. Admittedly, L had never seen Light looking this disheveled in public and of course the chief had never seen him looking this disheveled ever and couldn’t say that he liked it; he strongly suspected that Light had been _doing things_ with L, and swiftly came to the conclusion that the rude older boy was _obviously_ corrupting his perfect son. 

The teen colored slightly but managed to keep eye contact. “Yeah.” 

The Chief closed his eyes for a moment, reigning in his emotions before he continued, slowly. “Well, I suppose you’re still young, you might still change your mind. I mean if you want children...” 

Light wondered if he should inform his father that he was exclusively attracted to men when he feared that was what had set off his father’s heart attack in the first place. He decided to go for a more diplomatic approach.

“You still have Sayu,” Light was quick to point out. 

“If that’s the only objection I’m sure Light could just jack off into a cup and there would be plenty of takers,” L remarked impassively. 

The detective watched in amusement as his boyfriend rubbed his forehead around where his horns would have been in his natural form. 

“Ryuuzaki…” The teen groaned in exasperation while L seemed to produce a giant rainbow lollipop from out of nowhere and began sucking on it, looking up at Light and his father from his crouched position on yet another hospital folding chair with those large, black puppy dog eyes—he managed to appear so deceptively innocent. “…That’s not helping.” Light insisted as those big black eyes of L’s seemed to become impossibly wider and more pathetic looking by the second and Light concluded that the detective must have some super secret “cuteness” power that he used to subdue his enemies. 

However as cute as L was to Light it seemed that this tactic failed to assuage Souichiro’s concerns for they both noticed that as soon as L opened his mouth the Chief had gained a dramatically accelerated heart rate.

“Excuse me, sexy… er… _sirs_ but I must ask you to leave. You’re upsetting the patient,” another nurse demanded from the doorway and then her eyes fell on Light “But if you need a shoulder to cry on I get off in five minutes.”

“He’s taken,” L informed her in a near-growl. 

“Thanks,” Light muttered to L before turning back to his bedridden father. “Dad… _Please,_ don’t worry so much about the case right now. You just focus on getting better, alright?” 

“I’m worried about you, son. _Ryuuzaki…_ he’s—” _L. He’s just using you. He thinks you’re Kira, he…_

“...Is sitting right here,” L reminded him. 

“Look, dad, I know my choice of partner is kind of… unconventional but Ryuuzaki is a great guy. I promise—I know I’m in good hands.” 

Once they were safely out of earshot L regarded Light. The teen’s face was drawn with worry which in turn made L worried that if Light kept it all in he was liable to explode—not only was that psychologically unhealthy but with his weird mutant pyro powers L was betting that he could _literally_ explode. 

“So… were you trying to reassure your father or sell him car insurance?” L prodded in an attempt at deliberately drawing his fire. 

“What do you mean, Ryuuzaki?” 

“That that whole thing was cheesy beyond belief. I’m afraid your whole human act needs work.”

Light just rolled his eyes and thought _like you’re one to talk…_ but instead, in an uncharacteristically self-conscious moment asked L “Was it really that bad?” The detective’s only answer was to give him that strange blank stare of his while he noisily lapped at his lollipop. “Oh well, there goes my lifelong dream of writing Hallmark cards,” the demon gave the detective a tight smile.

_“YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HAVE YOU NO SENSE?!”_

Light and L froze when they ran into none other than Light’s mom standing beside a flock of gaping nurses looking stern. L could have laughed at how cowed his boyfriend looked. Kira was clearly a momma’s boy—L wondered if they could have avoided all of this and stopped Kira’s reign of terror had Sachiko just wagged her finger: ( _“How dare you murder all those criminals! We taught you better than that! You’re in big trouble, young man! Go to your room!”_ )

Light fidgeted awkwardly, a single bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he realized belatedly that his whole family was here. He wondered if they were protected by his uncontrolled “sex demon aura” thing but he somehow doubted it. It didn’t seem to affect them earlier but they could be fighting against it really hard… or perhaps he had been wrong in his assumption about Sayu giving his father grandkids.

Sayu was gaping at him now but Light suspected that it had more to do with the fact that she’d never seen him getting in trouble before. (He really _hoped_ that was the case because… _ew._ His _sister._ ) 

Light murmured a quick apology and informed them “We were just leaving.” 

At that moment Sachiko just seemed to notice the brunette that accompanied her son—the exhausted-looking young man with poor hygiene and ratty clothes. She eyed him critically as only an angry mother can, arching a fine eyebrow. L reflexively followed her gaze and blushed. Until she had drawn attention to it L hadn’t realized he had reflexively taken hold of Light’s hand for comfort. 

“Is there something I should know?” 

Light gave a put-upon-sigh “Mom, Sayu. This is Ryuuzaki—my boyfriend.” 

At this announcement Sayu squealed in delight. “Oh Light! I knew it! I knew you were gay! Oh, and your boyfriend! You’re so _cute!_ ” 

“Pleased to finally meet you, Okaasan, Sayu-chan” L muttered in an awkward attempt at politeness while scratching himself. He extended his other hand to shake hers, paused, removed the lollipop from his hand (storing it in his mouth) and tried again. 

Sachiko stared at the pair of them in disbelief. 

_Boyfriend?! And he’s still alive? There was obviously more than meets the eye with this one..._

“Please tell me you’re safe about it?” Sachiko demanded to the further mortification of her son. 

“Yes mom, I’ve taken precautions.” Light said tersely. 

L made a mental note that Light just lied to his mother—they didn’t use condoms nearly as much as they should but L knew he was clean and the test results indicated that Light was too. 

“Good boy.” 

Light sulked as his mom ruffled his hair while his boyfriend covered a cough that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

“But you should really go now. You’re distracting the nurses. You want your father to get better, don’t you? I promise I’ll let you know how he’s doing. Oh, and… Ryuuzaki, was it? Could you help me for a moment? It seems my daughter has run into a bit of trouble in the lobby…”

The boys turned in unison to observe what the trouble was—there was a girl buried underneath all those pink boxes. Sayu had politely left the room when his mother began talking about her brother’s condom-use and had been immediately overwhelmed by her father’s coworkers. It seemed that the other members of the taskforce, and indeed several members of the NPA, had all sent their regards to the Chief and for some reason that meant sending doughnuts—as if that was at all conductive to cardiovascular health! L swiftly volunteered to help remove the offending pastries—one way or another. 

It was all-too-obvious to both Light and L that Sachiko had the ulterior motive of wanting to get to know her son’s boyfriend. Light could only hope she didn’t destroy him too terribly… 

_He should be fine—sure, he’s a bit awkward but he’s quite a charmer. I should know._

Light gave L a good-luck grimace before making his escape from a wild pack of horny nurses. 

***

_Just what’s keeping him?_

Light was getting restless. L had yet to return to their apartment. He had tried calling him (numerous times) but it just went to voicemail. He’d tried calling his mother too—she said she’d update him on his father’s condition but she never did. And even Sayu’s phone was off. 

Light was suddenly struck by a notion that he had earlier deemed too horrible to contemplate

_Did mom… say something to him about…_

Before he could finish that though he was suddenly no longer in his room—it was as if he had been yanked violently by some unseen Shinigami and now he was falling sideways, as the world spun off its axis, and all was a whirl of color, noise, and light.

Just as suddenly the ride stopped and Light fell to his hands and knees on a hard, metal floor dry heaving, trying to convince the contents of his stomach that they’d better _stay where they were dammit_ after that nauseating trip. While he was kneeling there the demon noted he was surrounded by what appeared to be a circle of salt outlined a pentagram drawn in blood (at least the blood didn’t smell human) the entire thing was lined with ancient runes and alchemy symbols and seemed to glow a balefully orange with otherworldly light.

“WHAT THE _HELL?!_ ” 

“Indeed.” 

Light raised his head to see L glowering down at him.


	26. Meet The Momster

_**Earlier…**_

Sachiko watched with bemusement as the strange boy crouched most-oddly on the edge of the rickety hospital chair just across from her; his adroit pink tongue working with single-minded efficiency as he lapped up all the remaining chocolate frosting from the surface of the doughnut. Much to Sachiko’s amusement, this boy had claimed he was merely doing his part to help in the Chief’s recovery by forever removing such potentially health-hazardous foods from his reach. The mother-of-two couldn’t help but think that the man-child before her had an ulterior and more self-gratifying motive.

The stern, overprotective mother appraised the strange boy her son had brought with him—scanning down from this “Ryuuzaki’s” greasy, messy mane of spiked black hair (that had obviously never known that such things as combs or showers existed) to his bare and pale wriggling toes (well, at least he didn’t have a fungal infection). There was no sugar-coating it—this “Ryuuzaki” was dressed like a bum, and he looked like he either had a severe sleep disorder or was on drugs… possibly both. At first Sachiko had assumed he was just some bum her son had picked up to feed on but no, it only took five minutes of observation to dispel that notion. They were much too comfortable around each other—indeed they sat together like the oldest of friends or an old married couple… 

L abruptly paused in the middle of his doughnut inspection as he felt the scrutinizing gaze of the weary-looking woman, his boyfriend’s (er... _suspect’s_ ) mother, following his every move. The Great Detective L deduced that there was a 98% chance that an awkward conversation was imminent and braced himself for some kind of confrontation. 

“So… Ryuuzaki-kun… you’re my son’s boyfriend…” 

_Here it comes._ Unconsciously the man’s shoulders hunched further into himself beneath his loose white sweatshirt, bracing himself as he awaited the obvious condemnations and cruel words such as _“Stay away from my son, you freak!”_ L thought that was a perfectly realistic assessment of how things were likely to go down considering the last time he tried to ask someone out he ended up on the pavement after getting kicked in the stomach. 

The world’s greatest detective tried not to fidget under the scrutinizing gaze of Light’s mother. L found that, just like Watari, Sachiko also had the uncanny ability to just look at you and make you feel as if you’re twelve years again and have just been caught stealing from the Queen’s snack food tray. (L didn’t know why Watari kept getting on his case about that. It was only one time!) 

“How long?” she demanded. 

L quickly did the math “About a week now?” L exclaimed meekly and immediately doubted himself—it felt like he and Light had been and would be together forever which was silly because L was sure he was going to arrest him for being Kira at one point. As soon as the word’s left his mouth L found he would much rather be spending his time drowning in a large tub of chocolate fudge in (consolation, self-gratification, or ironic punishment the detective wasn’t sure) for allowing himself to sound so weak in the presence of stranger—even if it was just Light’s mom. 

_…and he’s still alive!_ Sachiko thought with obvious surprise followed up with a great internal celebration that she didn’t allow to show on her face even as she came to the conclusion that _Light must truly care for him._ “Is it serious?” Sachiko pressed for this was vital in determining what her next action would be.

L carefully kept his face blank. No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t supposed to be. He was just seeing Light to get closer to him for the sake of the Kira investigation and the Black Dragon disappearances—or at least that’s what he kept telling himself. But if that was really true than why was he planning on capturing Kira in secret and having a nice, luxury prison suite constructed to confine Kira in after his capture that was nicer than most of the homes of the rich and famous? 

Meanwhile Sachiko took the awkward young man’s silent fidgeting as assent and smiled softly.

“I think it’s wonderful.”

 _What?!_ Obvious shock radiated from L’s crooked form where he nearly lost his balance off his precarious perch at the edge of the waiting room folding chair. 

Sachiko had to stifle a laugh as the young man before her swiveled around to lock his gazes with her with all the intensity of an ace fighter pilot honing in on his target. The odd wild man’s already fierce gaze intensified further when Sachiko leaned over and squeezed his hand in an overly familiar way. The detective noted how her hands were slightly calloused from doing housework and how her well-manicured nails bit into the palm of his hand. 

“There is something I must show you. Follow me.” Sachiko insisted while keeping her firm grip on L’s hand as she stood up, forcing L to follow her or topple out of his seat. Then, in violation of every survival instinct and every lesson he ever learned at Wammy’s House, L’s feet followed after her, seemingly on their own accord. 

The detective stared after the woman in barely concealed bewilderment. He had taken Sachiko Yagami to be a perfect _Yamato Nadeshiko_ and education mama—the ideal Japanese housewife, submissive but strong and driving her children to study hard—that she was even talking to him like this was more than a bit surprising. Belatedly L considered that perhaps his assessment relied too much on stereotypes. For the first time L seriously looked at Sachiko Yagami, the Chief’s wife, and Light’s mother. Her long black hair fell straight from the crown of her head to frame her face, marked with wrinkles and worry lines. L was sure that concealed beneath the makeup would be dark-shadows beneath her eyes that almost matched his own. L supposed she might have been pretty once but L doubted she ever would have ever matched her son’s looks. The detective idly observed that her eye-shadow appeared to be strategically picked to perfectly match her crisp lavender-colored dress and he wondered if Light got his perfectionism and OCD from his mother… 

“You trust me because you trust _him,_ ” Sachiko answered his unasked question while ushering the young man into the janitor’s closet. L momentarily studied the woman’s kind eyes that appeared to hold no malicious intent before allowing himself to be shoved and jostled into the tight space among assorted mops, buckets and trash bags. The purpose for this change in local was obvious to the paranoid detective—as opposed to the hospital waiting room there was no surveillance inside the janitor’s closet and they could speak freely in here with no chance of anyone overhearing them. Or at least that’s what L hoped was the purpose of Sachiko pushing him into a closet—L swore that if Light’s mom was coming onto him he’d be throwing in the towel right then and there. 

L switched on the single hanging light bulb to illuminate the closet. Sure he might have just made them more obvious to whatever hidden observers Sachiko feared may be watching them but L wasn’t about to play Seven Minutes In Hell with Light’s mom (or whatever the hell game it was that his successors got up to when they shoved each other into closets ). 

The detective resisted the urge to fidget awkwardly as he once again engaged in a staring contest with Light’s mother when she joined him in the confined space of the broom closet. “Was there something you wanted to tell me, Yagami-san?” the detective finally prompted. 

“There’s no good way to say this…” Sachiko sighed and tucked back a strand of her graying hair as she closed the closet door. “The men in my family… they usually have trouble maintaining steady, lasting relationships. That it’s lasted this long—there’s reason to hope. He must really care for you.” 

The renowned detective felt a droplet of sweat roll down his temple. “It’s only been a week,” he protested with growing confusion though he couldn’t deny that Light seemed to be quite… _smitten_ with him. 

“Trust me, Ryuuzaki-kun, if he hasn’t been dropped you by now you’re not ever going to be rid of him.”

L hated to admit it but he was confused because that description didn’t particularly sound like someone who had trouble forming lasting relationships—quite the opposite, really.

“Has he not told you?” Sachiko asked, suddenly serious.

“Told me what?” drawled the detective, rapidly growing tired of these games. 

“You know, about his condition?” Sachiko asked delicately. 

“You _know?_ ” L demanded, disbelievingly. 

Sachiko gave him a _look._ “I’m his mother! Do you really think he can hide anything from me?”

L arched a pencil-thin eyebrow but said nothing. He highly doubted accusing her perfect son of being a mass murderer would get him in her good books... and L nearly kicked himself as he stopped and examined that line of thought. Dammit, he was a detective, not a sex-deprived teenager! (Alright so he was a detective first and a sex-deprived man-child second. He never claimed to be a saint.) 

As the minutes ticked by in silence in the tight space of the closet L unconsciously ramped up his trademarked creepy stare, leaning forward, eyes wide and bulging until he resembled a goldfish—this would have disturbed most people though for some reason it never seemed to bother Light and Light’s mom appeared to be similarly immune to his antics. L only looked on with incredulity as Sachiko pulled out an old, dusty tome from her handbag.

“Here, you might need this,” she said, holding it out to him. “You know, just in case… if you think things are getting out of control.” 

L cautiously held up the weathered black book between the tips of his thumb and index fingers, lifting it up so that it obscured his face. 

“This…” 

“The means to bind and control a full-blooded demon,” Sachiko supplied. “I marked the spell you need.”

L frowned as he regarded the book in his hand. _Likelihood that mental illness runs in Sachiko’s family: 98%._

L idly traced the etched grooves of the title in the leather bound cover with his other hand. Contrary to whatever delusions Sachiko was laboring under it wasn’t any sort of magic book but just an old copy of Christopher Marlowe’s _Dr. Faustus_ written in the original English—literally, as in it was written as: “The Tragicall Hiftory of the Life and Death of Doctor Favstvs” complete with ye olde butchered English spellings scrawled across the ancient, leather-bound cover. Considering the age and state of the book and the materials used in its printing it might even be an original copy.

Sachiko smiled serenely at the detective’s skeptical look “I know you think I’m mad.” 

L shifted uncomfortably (and somehow got a broom handle pressing uncomfortably against his back for his troubles) as his boyfriend’s mother began to cry, tears staining the front of her frilly lavender dress. L was not at all used to having to deal with crying women—he usually had his Shields to deal with the families of the victims (or the families of the _criminals_ for that matter) while he hid safely behind a computer screen. For a moment the detective stood, utterly petrified (and with that broom still digging into his back); afraid that to open his mouth lest he say something socially awkward thus making it worse...

“Uh, there-there…” L tried intrepidly to offer comfort and Sachiko just wailed harder.

 _Well it looks Light-kun isn’t the only one who needed to work on his human act,_ L flinched. _Dammit, I just solve the cases—dealing with the public is definitely not my forte!_

“He’s a good boy!” Sachiko insisted. “But it would be better if he settled down with someone nice. If you’re still alive after this long he must _really_ care for you!” 

_Well, that was encouraging._ L thought sarcastically. 

“Sorry,” Sachiko sniffled, trying to dry her eyes with her lacy, monogrammed handkerchief as she began to tell her story. “Somehow, despite being born human he’s essentially become a full-blooded demon.” 

“Yes… he said something to that effect. He showed me… though I didn’t really want to believe it…”

Sachiko nodded. “Yes, he’s a sex kamui to be exact, what Westerners know as an incubus, if you’ve heard of them—a predatory demon that feeds off of humans, sucking out their life and vitality through sex.”

“Wait, are you telling me that Light-kun has been… _feeding_ off me?” The detective inquired all too quietly, only a slight quiver in his monotone betraying emotion. “An incubus…” 

Light’s… (the _suspect’s!_ ) mother sobbed again but nodded an affirmative as Ryuuzaki’s dark eyes took on a glazed, disbelieving quality.

“He’s very powerful but… But that also makes him easier to bind. Even a novice in the Dark Arts might bind a full-blooded demon to their service.” 

“I don’t understand. Why are you helping me?” the detective asked in bewilderment as he absorbed the flood of information that he knew that Sachiko believed to be true; whether or not it actually was true had yet to be proven. Even after seeing such things with his own eyes it was still a hard and bitter pill to swallow; that things like demons and Shinigami actually existed. L still had to consider the possibility that he had somehow been duped, however unlikely that was as the evidence continued to mount… But it still didn’t exclude a more scientific explanation like Light and the rest of Sachiko’s family could be genetic mutants and Ryuk… could’ve been an undiscovered or extraterrestrial species…. Alright at this point it’s almost just as rational to say he is a Shinigami. What reason would the creature have to lie about something like that? And why would an extraterrestrial species bother to travel thousands of light years to Earth just to hang out and play video games with a college freshman? For that matter why would a Shinigami? Perhaps now that he wasn’t as distracted he should seek another interview with Ryuk... 

Sachiko sniffled softly, quickly drying her eyes with her lacy pink handkerchief. “I love my son but he can’t help what he is. His… _evil_ must be contained. I think it would be best if he was bound to someone he likes—it would make it easier.” 

L nodded grimly. _Who would’ve thought that I would find an ally in Kira’s mother?_

After what seemed like ages later after many detailed explanations and planning Sachiko finally let L out of the closet but not before she gave him one final warning:

“Remember, I’m trusting you with this because he trusts you. But if you hurt my son…”

L swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat when Sachiko’s compassionate brown eyes flashed an all-too familiar shade of red in the near darkness of the closet. 

“I understand.” The detective shuddered despite himself, deciding that a demon’s wrath was nothing compared to a _mother’s_ wrath.


	27. The Conjuring

_**Faustus:** Where are you damned?_  
_**Mephastophilis:** In hell._  
_**Faustus:** How comes it then that thou art out of hell?_  
_**Mephastophilis:** Why this is hell, nor am I out of it._

A bead of blood formed between the pages of the ancient text. L stared at it blankly. It was like his teeth had acted on their own accord; worrying at his thumbnail until he was bleeding again. It was a bad habit that the great detective was well-aware that he needed to stop—especially when he was about to try and summon up a devil—it would… _suck_ if he ended up selling his soul thanks to his nail-biting habit. 

Upon re-reading the text it occurred to L that for a so-called genius Dr. Faustus was really stupid. 

_This_ was really stupid. 

L was _well-aware_ that this was stupid but he needed answers and fast. He supposed there was one way to know without a shadow of a doubt whether or not Sachiko was telling the truth, and if all this magic _crap_ was real or not—to try that “spell” as Sachiko suggested it. Of course there was a chance that none of this was real and that Light’s mother was simply nuts. L clung to that belief for as long as he could in order to save his sanity. The trouble with that, though, was that everything Sachiko told him wasn’t that far-fetched given the facts of the case: L now knew that such things as monsters like Shinigami existed, he knew Kira could control people’s actions, and Light himself had told him that he was a demon though L hadn’t wanted to believe it at the time. Was it really that much of a stretch to believe that Light was an incubus and had him under his thrall? 

_“When you’ve eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”_ That seemed to be the detective’s favorite _Sherlock Holmes_ quote as of late as more and more absurdly improbably things kept happening around him. So L supposed that even if for whatever reason Sachiko’s spell failed to work it didn’t exactly _disprove_ that magic could possibly exist either given the existence of Shinigami, Light’s apparent skill at throwing fireballs around out of his bare hands, and criminals dying of heart attacks for no apparent reason. However if the spell failed to work L supposed he might be able to build a case that mental illness ran in Light’s family and so he would be that much closer to confirming that Light was indeed a mass murderer so it was a win-win, at least on paper. That was still his _job_ by the way, arresting Light as Kira (and possibly also as the one behind the deaths of the Black Dragon yakuza but that was really just a footnote compared to the crimes he committed as Kira), as emotionally conflicting as that might be. And that was a whole other bag of gummy worms. Anyway that L looked at it Light had deceived him. Was he just using him, all this time? Was _any_ of it real? 

L sighed, took a step back and tried to look at the situation objectively. Perhaps he was being unfair—logically, he knew it was a bit hypocritical to get upset about Light deceiving him when he entered into this relationship so that he could better spy on Kira but unfortunately emotions didn’t follow logic—that’s why L tried to avoid them as much as possible. The great detective L would be the first to admit that he was a bit of a hypocrite for he never claimed to be without flaws. Indeed, in the safety of his own mind, L identified closer with the criminals he caught then with other law enforcement officers—he didn’t like restrictions or playing inside the rules and he thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. The Kira case was truly the most fun the reclusive detective had had in years. But L supposed that his biggest flaw (aside from his sugar-addiction and insomnia which he didn’t count as flaws) was that he _hated_ being lied to despite being a consummate liar himself. 

So, all things considered, L thought he was taking the whole thing rather well considering Light had neglected to tell him he was a soul-sucking demon who was in all likelihood slowly killing him whenever they fucked. There was also the question of how many of his decisions of late really were _his_ decisions. Was it truly his decision to sleep with the suspect or when that happened was he already being influenced by Light’s spell? As disturbing as that image was on a visceral level the thing that _vexed_ L even more was the idea that Light got one over on him so completely—he wasn’t very fond of losing either and it looked like Light… _Kira_ won this round. L could just imagine the smirking bastard laughing at his expense… That’s why part of L really wanted to dismiss everything Sachiko told him as the ravings of a madwoman but then Watari had to go and text him with the preliminary lab results. 

This was… _disturbing._

L was a detective, not a geneticist or a biochemist but even without the aid of Watari’s notes the genius still knew enough about the fields to see that this was seriously _wrong._ As loathe as he was to admit it Sachiko just might be onto something after all. However further test results were still pending and Sachiko’s tip really was the best lead he had to go on at the moment. And so it came to pass that L began painting a large pentagram in goat’s blood on the floor or a makeshift prison of his and Watari’s own design, feeling absolutely ridiculous. Especially since he had elected to perform this foolishness in the presence of witnesses on the off-chance it worked. L had chosen Matsuda and Mogi to cover him as he set up for the whole “hocus pocus exercise in ritual stupidity” seeing as Matsuda was an idiot and no one would ever care about anything he had to say and Mogi never said anything anyway. Watari was also observing—as he always did (Watari taught L everything he knows—especially in the arts of espionage and perverted stalking.)

The socially-challenged detective traced the outer circle of the bloody pentagram after ripping open an economy-sized bag of salt with his teeth. Then as a secondary precaution he opened additional bags to salt the area outside the circle and to encompass the perimeter of the cell. 

_Then_ as an added security measure L had capitalized on the subject’s apparent sensitivity to loud noises by installing several loudspeakers around the cell and in the surrounding halls, ready to blast a through a playlist of some of the loudest, heaviest songs ever written should the hypothetical prisoner attempt to escape. This measure almost seemed needlessly cruel to the suspect’s significant other. L ruthlessly pushed such feelings down and reminded himself that this was probably why it was a bad idea to get involved with one’s murder suspects in the first place. Besides if Light tripped the sound trap than he would have well earned it by trying to escape. He’d briefly considered having it play AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” on an infinite loop for the sake of irony but was sadly overruled seeing that Watari and the taskforce didn’t want to have to listen to the same songs over and over again either. 

L frowned slightly as he worked—he couldn’t even hide his embarrassment behind a mountain of sweets as per usual for he had discovered that for some reason he couldn’t enunciate the spell correctly with his mouth stuffed full of hard candies. (Not that he would ever admit that his first foray into black magic was a failure due to a mouth full of jawbreakers but on the bright side at least he didn’t accidentally summon some unnamable cosmic horror that would steal his candies—that was just _unthinkable._ ) 

L re-entered the cell, metal screeching horribly against metal when he threw open the door of the cage, and reached into his baggy jeans’ pocket, pulling out a leather pouch. He then shook out the contents, the soft pink verbena petals, into the palm of his hand before tossing them around so that they scattered everywhere, coating the floor of the cell. According to Sachiko’s notes they were supposed to offer “mystic protection” or something but as L watched the petals flutter down his traitorous memories inevitably returned to his disastrous “date” with Light and picking pink sakura petals out of his hair. L unconsciously ground his teeth (still wishing he could be chewing on something sweet and crunchy right about now) as he steeled himself for what was to come. 

L then lit six black candles. He held the match delicately between his thumb and forefinger in his own peculiar, seemingly carless way of holding things while the fire burned its way up the match, racing him, trying to lick and burn at his skin before he’d finished lighting all the wicks. That all done, the detective took a step back and surveyed his handiwork in all its bloody, salty, petal-filled, Gothic glory. 

There—one demon prison ready to go. 

Damn, it was _still_ ridiculous. 

L suppressed a sigh as he pricked his index finger on the edge of a strawberry soda can, letting droplets of his blood fall onto the already bloody pentagram as he began to speak:

_**“Sint mihi dei acherontis propitii. Ignei, aerii, terrenti, aquatici spiritus salvete! Orientis princeps, Belzebub inferni ardentis monarcha, et Asmodeus incubae erus, propitiamus vos, ut ipse nunc surgat nobis dicatus Deus Nocte, Deus Mortis, Yagami Light!”** _

A sudden, strong gust of wind whipped through L’s hair as he intoned the ancient Latin formulae and the bloody runes took on a nightmarish unearthly orange glow. Just when L was beginning to feel impatient and was about to dismiss it all as a trick of the light, he _felt it._ It began as an eerie hum which soon gave way for a deep rumbling sound that L felt rattling in his very bones and soon transformed into a thunderous roar which shook the floor beneath his bare toes, the metal of the cage screeched and groaned in protest as reality was rewritten to suit the novice sorcerer’s needs. Just as the noise had reached its loudest strange energies streaked and crackled through the air like lightning and a great pillar of light suddenly shot up from the center of the ring, disappearing into the ceiling (but the detective somehow suspected that it could be seen outside in the sky from miles around). 

Okay, L had to admit that the “spell” seemed to be doing something.

The furiously burning streaks of light almost seemed to congeal as they began to spin within the confines of the circle, rumbling and churning into a great vortex of power. There was a sudden sharp, hissing sound when the runes flashed brighter and a dark fire began to burn within the center of the swirling inferno. L was suddenly hit by the smell of brimstone and burning fabric as an all-too familiar form materialized from out of the raging flames. Once the spell had served its purpose the flames died down to mere embers; leaving the blackened metal of the floor within the pentagram to be the only evidence of their passing. 

L stared unblinkingly at the bloody and blackened pentagram’s new occupant; his wide-eyes widening further in disbelief. 

_Damn. That actually worked._

Slowly the detective picked himself up from where he’d landed on his ass on the floor of the cell, blown backwards from that initial surge of power. Luckily his prisoner failed to notice his moment of weakness.

L figured that the demon ( _his_ demon) would probably look appropriately proud and majestic if he wasn’t currently on his knees dry-heaving. 

“WHAT THE _HELL?!_ ” Light snarled, the crimson-eyed demon glaring up at him through his fringe of auburn bangs and the detective chewed on his lip as he contemplated Light’s reactions or lack thereof. L failed to take into account that the young demon was a bit disoriented from having been ripped through dimensions and landing in the small enclosed space within the pentagram that just barely fit him. Nor did L take into account that while wallowing in his own hurt and betrayal he was making the elementary mistake of seeing what he wanted to see. 

_There’s surprise, sure, but surely not enough surprise that… He told me himself he was a demon but in such a way that… Dammit, he knew. He must have known exactly what he was doing! All this time!_

L wanted to rip his hair out in frustration.

_And to think I felt sorry for him! That I trusted him! That I lov… And even then I knew he was Kira. I am such a fool! A sick, sick fool. I might as well begin penning letters to death row inmates asking to marry them—it’s that level of stupid! This outdoes even Matsuda!_

“Indeed.” L’s face was set in a look of deep hate as he contemplated just how badly he’d been betrayed. 

_Lesson one of being a morally dubious great detective—if you make a mistake cover it up. No one can ever know or I’ll be stripped of my title and no one will ever hire me again!_

L hung his head in shame.

***

Light had no idea what was happening. 

Well, other than it looked like Ryuuzaki somehow had gained the power to summon him or something and while that could be potentially useful at some point Light figured he would have to be having a little talk with his boyfriend about manners and personal boundaries. Ryuuzaki could’ve _asked_ him first. Light loved to experiment! But just summoning him without asking—that was pretty thoughtless of him. What if he’d been in the shower or something? Speaking of which, it was a bit drafty in here… 

Oh. 

It seemed all his clothes had burned off in-transit. He’d really liked that shirt too... 

Sure it was nothing Ryuuzaki hadn’t seen before but then the way L kept staring at him, it was obvious he was angry with him about something (though he failed to communicate _what_ ). Either way getting a boner before Ryuuzaki even spoke to him or told him what this was all about was kind of awkward… Light wrapped his wings around himself self-consciously. 

Another, even worse thing occurred to him—what if he had been flying at the time? Oh, he knew what would have happened—conservation of momentum suggested that, in layman’s terms, he would’ve gone splat when coming out of the other end. It could’ve kille—well, even with his accelerated healing that could’ve been debilitating at the very least. 

Not cool, Ryuuzaki. Not cool at all. 

Even so Light figured he’d have to put that conversation off for later since L already seemed pretty upset with him for some reason. He had no idea why—they hadn’t had a fight in days and Light thought they were getting along quite well. So perhaps one was due. He could blame the law of averages or maybe Ryuuzaki was suffering from male PMS. In any case as Light stared perplexedly at L’s angry face he decided that the best course of action would be not to share these observations at this particular moment. Not when he’d been summoned through some unknown magics into what appeared to be a tiny cell that was littered with weird stuff… blood (it didn’t smell human, at least not for the most part…), candles, flower petals, and salt. The latter of which made his hackles rise. Whatever this was about L was serious about his staying put. 

Not for the first time Light wondered how the hell he got into these kinds of situations. Here all of his plans were running along smoothly and no one suspected a thing—there was _no way_ that L could’ve found out what he’d been planning. He’d been very careful to make sure his “present” for Ryuuzaki would stay a surprise. It was to be his masterstroke, his _magnum opus._ Not even Ryuk knew what he was up to though the Shinigami had tried to peek. Luckily things were now at such a stage he no longer needed to supervise them to be fulfilled and he could afford to spend more quality time with L. 

Dammit, again, Ryuuzaki could’ve just _asked_ and he would’ve gladly stuck around. There was no need for these drastic measures! But then his Raven always seemed to be quite paranoid. Light wasn’t sure why—it wasn’t as if he was planning L’s death _now!_ The killer sighed and just put it up as to being another of L’s character flaws that made him so endearing. 

Fine, he could play this game. 

If Ryuuzaki wanted to keep him here he wouldn’t fight it. Instead he figured he’d follow Yamamoto’s advice on personal responsibility and treat L like an irrational girlfriend who was mad at him for no reason—the simple solution seemed to be to shower him with sweet nothings and gifts of apology. While normally this task would be somewhere between difficult to next to impossible while locked up, Light had his ways… It helped that he was still working on the last gift of apology. It would be ready in just a few days time. 

Light again slowly surveyed his surroundings. 

_Flower petals? Seriously?_

Yeah, he was definitely getting mixed signals here. 

And perhaps he’d misread the situation entirely. Maybe this was just some kinky role-play fantasy Ryuuzaki had come up with? After all they’d played doctor/patient before so maybe now he wanted to play cop and suspect? Only Ryuuzaki wasn’t wearing the proper uniform and he’d failed to bring the handcuffs… 

Yes, he could play that game too. In fact, he’d prefer that game. 

But even if this was something as innocent as a sex game, Light figured it would be best to play coy, innocent, and confused. But first a more pressing matter: 

“Er… I don’t suppose you could lend me some pants?”

L turned and left without giving him a second glance, slamming the door behind him with a clang that was quite painful on the demon’s hypersensitive ears. 

“Hello?” Light asked in the sudden darkness.


	28. A Comedy of Errors

Light was trying really hard to be understanding, he really was, but the man he loved the most had just left him all alone in the dark with nothing but his thoughts and the ringing in his ears, no explanation, no chance to defend himself, and Light feared that in the darkness and the stillness his own racing thoughts were slowly driving him insane. It also gave him no solace to know that his annoyance with the detective was perfectly justified. 

The demon shifted slightly within the confines of the small salt circle, keeping his wings protectively wrapped around him like a security blanket. This also hid his nudity from the nameless, faceless gawkers that would occasionally pass by his cell. He was exhausted, desiccated, and ravenous, and his muscles ached and burned from being stuck in the same position for hours at a time. 

“Oh no… this is embarrassing.” 

In the comfort of the hotel room upstairs L watched Light squirm over the monitors. After a few minutes of hesitation L clicked on the P.A. button. 

“What is it, Light-kun?” 

“Ryuuzaki! I’m sorry but I’m afraid I don’t know the safe word.” 

L stared blankly at the monitor. 

When no response was forthcoming Light (to his absolute humiliation) resorted to begging. “Can you let me out, _please_ Ryuuzaki. I _really_ need to use the restroom.”

L sighed but extracted himself from his typical awkward and incredibly uncomfortable mode of crouching upon his otherwise comfy chair and Watari almost heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing L actually move. The elderly caretaker had been really worried about his lassate ward—how he just crouched there, obviously brooding seeing as he had left his sweet cart completely untouched. 

“Mr. Matsuda,” L inquired in his usual bland tone. 

“Yes?” The rookie inquired as L shoved a small metal pot into his hands. Matsuda was most puzzled. “What is it?”

“A chamber pot. Take it down to Light-kun, won’t you?”

 _Why is it always me?_ The rookie’s shoulders sagged as he made his way down to the hotel’s basement and boiler room. Someone, probably Watari, had cleared out a storage space and installed a steel-barred prison door on the entrance. It was the room L was using as Light’s makeshift prison or rather it was simply the room that held the _true prison_ within. Matsuda found it hard to believe that just that little ring of salt was preventing the younger man from moving but then he doubted that Light would be crouching there for hours willingly. 

The detective swallowed a sudden lump in his throat while he unconsciously loosening his black silk tie as he unprofessionally ogled the naked teenager. Matsuda knew he shouldn’t think about the Chief’s son in such a way but Light was still just as alluring at the last time he’d seen him on the examination table. It was so wrong! He’d worked with the Chief for a long time—he had practically seen Light growing up. To Matsuda, Light was still that polite and charming ten year old boy he had first met when he was still in training. He shouldn’t have such feelings for him—even if things had so obviously changed. Light was a young man now, well a young _demon,_ but even with his demonic features on display… the red batwings, the goat-like horns, even the fangs—he had such cute little fangs! 

“ _So cute!_ ” Matsuda blurted and the teen blushed, his serpentine tail swishing behind him like an angry cat’s. 

“ _Idiot,_ ” Light hissed under his breath as Matsuda took to babbling excuses. 

“Sorry… Of course you must know you’re incredibly sexy. I mean I’m not gay… but if I was gay I would totally do you. But I’m not gay! I’m not… you’re too damned pretty! And you have a boyfriend and you’re a real good friend and…. So yeah, shutting up now.” 

“Snap out of it, Matsuda.” Light sighed and pretended to examine the cuticles of his skin where they met his claws. 

“Matsuda, you idiot. He’s using his pheromones on you—he’s trying to seduce you,” L’s masked voice snapped from over the intercom and Light barely suppressed a growl. 

“It’s not like I ask for this kind of attention, you know! I’d turn it off if I could!” 

“My apologies, Light-kun—I suppose it was not fair of me to suggest you wanted this kind of attention,” the intercom buzzed blandly and Matsuda didn’t think L sounded at all sincere in his apology. He was quickly becoming annoyed with the consulting detective on Light’s behalf. 

Meanwhile Light turned to regard the young cop who was still standing there, drooling at him, from the other side of the barred door. “Look, Matsuda, I’m flattered, really, but while Ryuuzaki might be mad at me for some reason he’s still my boyfriend and I doubt he’d appreciate it if I cheated on him on top of whatever it is I allegedly did.” 

“No, by all means, screw Matsuda. I don’t care,” L insisted, his passive-aggressive tone carrying even through the voice filter. 

…And so it came to pass that Matsuda had the front row seat when L finally opened up lines of communication with the prisoner again. Surely the world’s greatest detective and Chief Yagami’s son would handle such a dispute with maturity and grace… 

“Ryuuzaki, just what the hell is your problem?”

“Matsuda, tell Light-kun that he **_knows_** what he did,” spat the detective. 

“That is completely unfair! How am I supposed to know what the problem is if you don’t tell me?!” 

“Matsuda, tell Light-kun I’m not talking to him.” 

“Fine! Matsuda, could you please tell Ryuuzaki he’s being a dick?”

“Matsuda tell Light-kun that he is being very childish and it is now 98%...”

“Wait? 98% of what?! What’s going on?” 

“Matsuda, please remind Light-kun that I am still not talking to him? I fear he is developing memory problems in his young age.” 

“ _Tell him yourself!_ ” Matsuda snapped, about ready to yank his own hair out. The poor rookie was at his wit’s end. 

“Uh, Matsuda, could you please hurry it up?” Light pleaded, fidgeting slightly in further embarrassment. He really did have to go.

The teen had been hoping that Matsuda would escort him to the restroom or something. Instead the rookie cop nervously placed a chamber pot within the circle. 

“Gee, thanks.” the teen grumbled.

Upon coming to his senses Matsuda couldn’t help but feel a wave of compassion for the prisoner—the detective realized that L had essentially left Light to rot in the dark, confined to that tiny circle and now he felt like a heel—just for following L’s orders in regards to taking care of Light-kun. 

“I’ll get Matsuda to change it when you’re done,” L said over the intercom. 

“Gee, thanks” came Matsuda’s echoing sentiment, seeing as he was less than enthusiastic about his newest assignment. 

“It couldn’t have killed you to install plumbing, you know,” Light observed. 

“There are some who are concerned you might somehow escape through the plumbing with your demon powers.”

Light made a face. “Ew. Even if that was possible… just _ew,_ ” Light glared at the chamber pot and then at Matsuda. “Are you really going to stand there and watch me pee?” the teen asked incredulously. 

“Are you really going to _make me_ stand here and watch him pee?” Matsuda complained to the security feed, equally aghast. 

“Yes,” came L’s blunt reply. The detective scowled at the resulting noises of disgust coming over the comm. “Grow up.” 

“Ryuuzaki, you seriously need a hobby. I swear you have some of the weirdest fetishes.” 

L glared blankly at the monitor screens but did not dignify that with a response. He still wasn’t really up to talking to the lying, conniving, (damned sexy) demon he’d confined to that darkened cell. Also he found Light’s accusation of him being a pervert as a case of blatant hypocrisy. As L recalled he wasn’t the one who suggested _tailsex_ or, for that matter, kept a drawer full of sex toys under lock, key, and pyrotechnic device. 

“Are you going to get to it or not?” L asked, well it was phrased like a question but it was quite obviously an order. 

***

Matsuda frowned as he made his way back up to taskforce HQ. Even if Light was their prisoner he couldn’t help but feel that Ryuuzaki was treating him most unfairly. 

He was stuck in that little circle all day and not even given him clothes! Matsuda reasoned that that had to be violating some basic human rights—even if Light wasn’t exactly human. Matsuda’s frown deepened at the sight of L enjoying his luxury suite. The rookie glared at the weirdo detective who was sitting crouched as usual in his comfy chair and eating his fudge sundae while Light-kun was rotting in that hellhole and Matsuda couldn’t help but wonder if it was actually possible to be any more of an asshole. Matsuda also couldn’t help but wonder if L was keeping Light locked up because Light was in the doghouse regarding their relationship. But then, what did L and Light’s relationship have to do with the case? And mixing the two—wasn’t that like... _bad?_ As Matsuda was leaving he realized that L had forgotten to ask for the key back, seeing as he was too preoccupied with his moping and his cheesecake (same thing, really). Upon feeling the weight of the key in his pocket, Matsuda made a decision, the rookie’s normally cheerful demeanor hardened into a resolute expression. 

***

Light was surprised when Matsuda returned an hour later with a brown paper bag tucked under his arm and a dopey smile on his face. Light hoped that Matsuda hadn’t cooked up some well-meaning but harebrained scheme to help him escape because that was definitely not on Light’s current agenda and to do so would put Matsuda’s job in jeopardy. That mattered to Light because so far Matsuda had been the only officer who had been openly sympathetic to his plight and Light knew he could make better use of him as a police officer than unemployed. 

“You shouldn’t have, Matsuda.”

Light grimaced—on the off-chance that L didn’t know what Matsuda was doing he no doubt would know in short order given that there were security cameras everywhere. 

“The way they’re treating you… it’s not right! I brought you some pants…” Matsuda began but his resolution wavered a bit as he again approached the circle and he was met with the piercing twin rubies of Light’s eyes gleaming ominously in the dark of the cell assessing him with such a calculating look that it made his guts squirm. As Light took a step forward towards the edge of the circle, Matsuda’s free hand instinctively settled on the butt of his gun. 

“D-don’t come any closer!” 

“Woah!” Light swiftly sunk to his hands and knees, hands and wings spread wide to show he wasn’t hiding anything. “I’m not trying to escape, Matsuda. You just said you’d bring me some pants.” 

For a minute Matsuda just stood there, gaping like an idiot. With his wings spread out like that everything was uncovered. 

“Er… Matsuda?” 

“Huh?”

“My pants?” Light quirked an eyebrow. 

“Er… right. Here,” the suddenly red rookie stammered as he fumblingly handed him the brown paper bag. Throughout the entire transaction neither of them had been aware of how Matsuda’s polished dress shoe scuffed its way through the line of salt.

Light felt a wave of gratitude towards the cop upon inspecting the contents of the bag—it not only included a fresh pair of pants but cleaning wipes and bounty from the vending machine. Light had been stuck in here for several hours and was indeed getting a bit peckish. He had also begun to fear that he wouldn’t get fed—with the way L had been acting Light was beginning to suspect that this room was meant to be his oubliette.

“Matsuda, I could kiss you.” 

The rookie cop blushed and stammered. 

“ _Could,_ but I won’t seeing as I am _not_ trying to seduce you,” the teen said pointedly as he put on the pants. He would’ve asked for a shirt as well but for some reason he found he couldn’t revert to normal or retract his wings at the moment. Light suspected it had to do with the spell that had forced him here. 

“You don’t need to try… and I’m not even gay!” Matsuda moaned, burying his face in his hands. 

“It’s okay, Matsuda—gay, straight, bi, whatever, we’ll still love you just the way you are…” 

“How touching,” L said in a bored tone, confirming that he was indeed watching. Light noted how his voice was additionally muffled and distorted through the act of obnoxiously chewing on some sweet while he spoke into the microphone and at that moment Light wondered at his own attraction towards the dorky detective. “And here I thought you _weren’t_ trying to seduce Matsuda.” 

“As a _friend,_ ” Light insisted, voice laden with annoyance as he tried to adjust the baggy pants so they hung comfortably around his hips. 

“I wasn’t sure what size you were so…”

“Its fine, Matsuda. Thank you.” 

Matsuda blushed and took to staring at the demon with bedroom eyes before he caught himself again. 

“Y-you’re doing it again!” Matsuda accused as he covered a nosebleed. 

“Not intentionally,” Light insisted as he casually hooked a talon in and pulled the tab of the Pepsi can until it snapped open, fizzling, and the demon poured the contents down his parched throat. 

Light almost choked, giggling, when he noticed the company slogan on the side of the can: 

_“Change The World”_

Oh, the irony. 

It was a testament to his boredom that he found it amusing enough to laugh about. The teenaged demon had no idea just how creepy he looked red-eyed and giggling in the dark. Or that when he stretched he had actually had taken a step outside the barrier. 

The bullet tearing through his flesh was his only warning. 

_“SONOVABITCH!!”_ Light roared and clutched his wounded shoulder. _“Matsuda you IDIOT—”_

_“Sorry! I’m so sorry!”_

Matsuda had instinctively drawn his gun when he had perceived the demon prowling towards him in the dark but then his finger slipped.

The demon suppressed a growl around the jumpy officer and instead just released a put upon sigh. “Just… don’t do it again. That fucking _hurts!_ ” Light grimaced. 

Matsuda peaked through his fingers of his hands, which he had covering his face as he crouched, cowering on the floor. “Y-you’re not mad?”

“Well I’d appreciate if you didn’t take to shooting me as a hobby but I suppose it didn’t hurt quite as bad as getting hit by a bus or falling off a high rise building.” 

“Woah... that really… you really…”

“Yeah.” The teen sighed and brushed his chestnut-colored bangs out of his eyes. “I _swear_ I wasn’t this accident prone before becoming a demon.”

Here the rookie gave his own strained-sounding laugh. “And here I thought _I_ was clumsy.”

Light regarded him out of the corner of his eyes—which currently held an unmistakably homicidal glint. “Don’t push it.” 

Matsuda yelped and turned an interesting shade of green as he watched how Light sunk his claws into his shoulder to dig the bullet out. The rookie squeaked in alarm when Light gripped his wrist and gently dropped the bloody slug into the palm of his hand. 

“Here. Keep it.”

“Wha—? Why? What am I supposed to do with this?” 

“I don’t know; I’m sure you could find some use for it. You could turn it into a lucky charm or a necklace or something. If Ryuuzaki has his way it might become quite the souvenir one day...of the sort of ‘I shot Kira and all I got was this lousy keychain’ variety.” 

“You shouldn’t joke about stuff like that, Light-kun,” the rookie cautioned as he prepared to leave. 

“Hey, Matsuda... If you see Ryuuzaki can you give him a message for me?" 

"Can't you just tell him yourself?" 

"He's not talking to me, remember? And I think that unless we can arrange something face to face... he might not be willing to listen."

"You're right. He looked pretty upset... for Ryuuzaki, I mean. He's probably not going to go for that, you know." 

"Just the same, I have to try." 

Matsuda lingered a moment at the door. "So what's the message?" 

"Tell him I want to come clean with him… about everything.”


	29. What's With Those Two?

Matsuda cringed when he came upon that pale form hunched over the keyboard. He knew Ryuuzaki must have seen him in the monitor’s reflection but the raven-haired man made no move to acknowledge his presence and the soft sound of tying never ceased. 

“Ryuuzaki, I—” the rookie began haltingly before gathering his resolve. “Er… I’m sorry I shot your boyfriend.” 

“Light-kun is not my boyfriend,” L declared in his soft monotone, not bothering to even _look_ at the officer. 

“But…” 

“I watched the tape, Matsuda. Light-kun all but confessed to you,” L said softly to the click of keys. 

“Of course not! Light was just joking around!” the rooky contested hotly. 

L stared at Matsuda in disbelief. “Matsuda… Light-kun doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.”

“He wants to talk to you…” 

The odd detective’s pale, spidery fingers stilled on the keyboard for but a moment before they resumed typing again—Matsuda took that to mean that perhaps Ryuuzaki was more conflicted than he let on. 

L still didn’t look up from his typing. “Light is Kira. There’s nothing more to say. There’s no need for me to waste any more time on him.”

“ _He loves you!_ ” Matsuda blurted out and immediately regretted it—L did turn around then and fixed the rookie with such an ugly look that Matsuda stumbled back in alarm. 

_“Get out!”_ L shouted in a rare and terrifying show of emotion.

Matsuda didn’t have to be told twice. 

***

“Er… How’s your shoulder?” Matsuda asked nervously, the cell door slamming closed with a clank behind him. 

Light tried to hide his wince at the noise behind a show of bravado. “It’s fine, see?” 

Matsuda was a bit unnerved when Light drew his attention to his shoulder—there was no wound, just unblemished skin—it was as if that jagged hole never was. 

It was a nice looking shoulder. Hell, everything about Light-kun was nice—he had this nice swimmer’s body that was surprisingly pleasant to look at even if it seemed a little bit… _effeminate._ Maybe that was why he found the younger man attractive despite being 100% straight. Either that or the whole sex demon thing… 

Matsuda blushed and awkwardly cleared his throat. “I-I’m so sorry again… for shooting you.”

Light waved it off. “Don’t worry about it.” 

“But…” 

“It was an honest mistake.” 

That was around the time Matsuda decided he would remain friends with Light-kun even if he was a demon or a killer or Kira or whatever else he might possibly be because, Matsuda reasoned, it was kind of hard to hate a guy who was still cool with you after you shot him. 

Matsuda continued to be a regular visitor to Light’s cell, which Light was grateful for. Other than Matsuda and occasionally Ryuk he was complete alone. Light suspected Ryuk was hanging out with L but he wouldn’t tell him what they talked about. Matsuda always brought him food and soon Light found his cell was furnished with a small futon, a folding table, and some beanbag chairs which felt like heaven after being trapped in that pentagram for so damned long. Matsuda never bothered to repair the salt seal nor had anyone else and Light wasn’t about to remain kneeling in the pentagram with such alternatives available. It wasn’t like he was trying to escape or anything—he was willing to comply with L’s rules but that was just ridiculous! Light realized that if this was L testing him he had probably failed L’s test but at this point he couldn’t summon up the will to care. He was just glad to be able to move again—his tails had kinks and his knees were killing him. Light made a mental note to really thank Matsuda if he ever got out of here—he was sure the money for all the stuff he brought him was coming from the rookie’s own pocket. 

“Uh… Up for a game?” the rookie asked, brandishing a familiar black and white square-patterned board. 

“Oh, I’d love a game of chess! I’ve been going out of my mind here with boredom!”

“Er… I don’t really play chess,” Matsuda let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m afraid checkers is more my speed.” 

Light smiled softly. “Checkers it is then.” 

***

“…I love that man, Matsuda,” Light confessed to the slightly uncomfortably looking rookie as he jumped his black draught across the board blasting right through Light’s reds but Light didn’t seem to notice. “I’m utterly besotted. Even if he wants me dead, hell, even if I was Kira I’d never be able to kill him.” The rookie gave the teenager a sympathetic look as Light heaved a wistful sigh. “Maybe it’s because love has gone and made me a total fool. L could never tolerate fools. I don’t think it’s just a silly teenage crush or even a byproduct of my condition. I’ve never felt like this before. For anyone. Before I met Ryuuzaki… I didn’t think I was even _capable_ of feeling like this. But he won’t talk to me, Matsuda. Honestly, I don’t even know what I did wrong. I told him I thought I was a demon! He’s _seen_ the, er… _embarrassing_ effect I have on people. But even supposing that every horrible thing L assumes about me right now was true, even supposing I am a monster and a murderer and whatever else he’d have me be, that doesn’t make my feelings for him any less genuine! You know I never asked for this. I’d shut it off if I could. The best I’ve been able to find is to neutralize it…” 

“You can, er… neutralize this?” Matsuda asked in surprise. 

“Well, I was researching my… _condition_ when Ryuuzaki brought me here…” Light explained when he noticed the atrocious state of the board. The demon looked on in disbelief as Matsuda trounced him at checkers again despite his obvious… distraction. The rookie carefully averted his eyes, groaned, and sagged into his folding chair. “Dammit, Light! I’m not even gay! I like _girls!_ Like your sister! Ryuuzaki said you’re doing this somehow—make it stop!”

“I’m sorry, Matsuda. I just seem to have this effect on people. And… _WAIT A MINUTE! SAYU?!_ You’re telling me you’re… my _sister?_ My _little_ sister. My _fourteen_ year old sister?!” 

“Uh… well, when you put it that way…” the rookie began to sweat a little, considering that perhaps that was not the wisest thing to say to an already annoyed demon… Matsuda gulped and stared fearfully into narrowed, gleaming sanguine eyes. He felt the weight of disdain in Light’s gaze—as if he were being judged and found lacking. 

“O-of course I’d wait until she was older! And I’d treat her right and… and… oh god, _I'm such an idiot! Please don’t kill me!_ ”

“And when exactly are you planning on telling my father of your intentions?” the demon asked sweetly as he, very calmly set up the board for another game of checkers. "Do you want to tell my father of these impure thoughts you have about my _fourteen year old_ sister or shall I?" 

Matsuda whimpered and slumping over the table in fear and misery—while Light could be a bit scary now that he was a demon and possibly Kira and all, Chief Yagami scared him even more.

Matsuda decided to go back to safer topics—namely L. Derailing the conversation was easy enough—it seemed there was nothing Light would rather talk about, to Matsuda's growing discomfort. He _really_ didn't need to hear Light waxing poetic about his detective's pale skin and raven hair and deep black beautiful pits of his eyes. 

“I wasn’t trying to deceive him. I thought he knew—I even told him that I think I’m some kind of demon and he’s seen the effect I have on people. I’m not _trying_ to hurt anyone, Matsuda, least of all him!” Light sighed and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead, mussing his once-perfect hair. “I want to be patient with Ryuuzaki, I really do, but he won’t even allow me to speak in my defense! I honestly don’t know what his problem is.” 

Matsuda fidgeted and continued to look uncomfortable. “You know, given how angry Ryuuzaki is I’m surprised he isn’t, you know… torturing you or something.”

“You don’t call this torture?” Light demanded, gesticulating wildly at the darkened cell around them. 

“Just… I just realized that at the rate you heal he could do, you know, _whatever_ to you and leave no permanent marks… He isn’t, is he?”

“Of course not! Ryuuzaki would never do that!” Light snapped, immediately coming to his boyfriend’s defense but Matsuda wasn’t so sure. L’s methods seemed rather shady to both him and the Chief. 

Of course the Chief wasn’t taking any of this very well, at first demanding that he be confined too in support of his son. His son had never been anything but a good, respectful child and he was sure that his being a demon did not change that and upon learning that the tip that led to L’s detainment of his son came from his own wife… Matsuda feared that these recent revelations were tearing the Yagami family apart. Poor Sachiko—Matsuda really felt she was only trying to do what was best but they had had a row that ended with the Chief moving out and taking Sayu with him. L had resolved the matter… by not resolving it at all—he’d just assigned the Chief a ton of paperwork to keep him out of his hair. The truly sad thing was that so far it seemed to be working. 

“I win again!” Matsuda declared cheerfully, trying to keep both Light’s and his own spirits up by concentrating on the game. 

_“How?”_ Light demanded, barely managing to stifle his growl. 

“Huh?” 

“ _How_ do you keep beating me?” 

“I think… you’re too cautious. I know with chess you got to think about every move but with checkers you really just need to press your advantage.” 

A bead of sweat trickled down the rookie’s temple as Light continued to rant at him about how unfair it all was and for the first time it occurred to Matsuda that Light could be a bit self-absorbed. Well naturally, as exceptional as he was, Light was still younger than he was—by over a decade, having just turned eighteen less than a month ago—he was _that age,_ it was only natural that he was a little self-absorbed…

“I mean he’s clearly upset but not knowing why—that’s the worst of it. He doesn’t communicate! I have no opportunity to correct it and no chance to defend myself! I was more than willing to compromise. I still am!” 

“You’re not in a position to bargain, Kira,” a third voice suddenly boomed within the cell. It was none other than the farouche detective himself, pinning them both with his unnerving, unblinking stare. 

L threw back the cell’s sliding door without care, so that it would give a horrific screech of metal on metal before smashing and clanging against the wall. The noise put Light on the ground. 

“Light-kun…” Matsuda asked in some concern as the demon curled in on himself, whimpering and covering his ears. 

“Leave us, Matsuda,” L commanded. 

“But…” Matsuda looked doubtfully down at Light, the prisoner. 

“I-It’s alright, Matsuda,” Light said, pressing something into the rookie’s hand when Matsuda helped him to his feet. “I’ll be fine.”


	30. Fifth Circle

L sullenly cradled a bowl of M&Ms in his lap as he stared unblinkingly at the monitors. It had been several days since his last confrontation with Light but he was still furious—he still couldn’t believe that Light had all but confessed to _Matsuda_ of all people. 

After the officer had _shot him!_

_“I shot Kira and all I got was this lousy keychain…”_

L had cursed when he heard Light’s “joke” over the monitors and fisted his hands in his hair (forgetting to put down the lollipop he'd been holding and thus getting it stuck in his hair in the process, making L curse again). This was his first case _ever_ where L had a problem with separating his investigating instincts and his personal feelings and this (coupled with the lollipop stuck in hair that Watari had to cut out) made him very angry.

 _He_ was the one Light was supposed to confess to—not Matsuda! 

But... that shouldn’t matter, should it? The case was over. All that mattered now was bringing it to an end.

L’s face was a stony mask as he considered the possibilities—even if Kira was to be sentenced to death he had no clue how they might go about carrying it out. Normal means of killing the demon would not work. Maybe holy water? But then if the movies were correct it would probably liquefy him alive. Surely that would fall into cruel and unusual punishment and banned by the Geneva Convention. Not that that had stopped him before. So why did he hesitate now to do what was necessary?

No, L realized, he still couldn’t turn Light over to the I.C.P.O. He could _never_ do that to Light because even if Light deserved execution… there would be no justice in that way—there would be no trial and that the international government tribunal would never execute him properly. 

No, they would want to _study_ him, _torture_ him— _vivisect_ him. 

Again and again with Light’s accelerated healing keeping him alive… 

They would use him as a weapon. 

They would use him to turn a profit. 

They would no know limits. 

They would bleed him fucking dry but keep him alive in a never-ending Hell. 

He couldn’t let that happen, not even to Kira-and especially not to _his Light!_

Even after everything Light, _Kira_ had done L could not in good conscience consign him to such a fate. 

No. Kira was L’s prisoner so he would be keeping Light. 

L glanced at the monitors again and abruptly seemed to realize how in his fury he’d left Light shivering and alone in the dark… 

_“Matsuda is just a friend! You may notice I never did anything with him! You deprived me of all other human contact…”_

_“What do **you** need with human contact?”_

_“That’s low, Ryuuzaki.”_

In the end L had been so furious over the whole Matsuda business… he didn’t even address the original issue—that of Light neglecting to tell him he was an incubus and feeding off his lifeforce. 

But then, that had seemed self-explanatory—Light was Kira and was using his demonic powers to murder him and L had clearly been an idiot for getting involved with him in the first place… which in turn had made him angrier because he had been so thoroughly duped. He really had thought that Light had cared. Had… _loved him._ His act had seemed _so genuine…_

It still did.

As had his pleas for forgiveness. 

L had tried to ignore it and for a while he was so angry he’d just shut off the P.A. system to his workspace. So it was only later that he’d heard Light’s heart-felt apology to the empty room. 

L was about ready to relent… just a little bit but then Matsuda had come in… and L had felt like he’d been duped again. 

After that, part of him kind of liked the idea of keeping Light down there away from everyone else. 

Matsuda was a harsh reminder of how easily he was replaced and… 

L came to realize he’d been acting… most _unprofessional._

Just, for some reason, seeing Light playing draughts with Matsuda had made his blood boil. 

Light was _his_ partner! _His!_

Not Matsuda’s! Be it in bored games or anything else… 

L felt his M&M's tumble out of his lap into a colorful mess as his thought process ground to a screeching halt. 

Was he really… _jealous? Of Matsuda?_

This had ceased to be about Kira at all and had all become… _personal._

 _Dammit, this was why I didn’t have a personal life!_

L wasn’t meant to have a lover let alone a friend! Because in the end L was meant to be a title, not a person—L the human was a lying, cheating, dishonest human being, a self-described “monster”—a monster that put away many other monsters but a monster still. So, in retrospect it seemed only natural then that he’d find his soulmate in a demon. 

Dammit, but why _wouldn’t_ Light tell Matsuda? It’s not like he’d given Light a chance to explain himself. No, he’d just thrown him in the hole and didn’t look back, not wanting to risk being enthralled again by the demon’s sweet smiles and honeyed lies...

But when he went back and looked at everything objectively without so much anger clouding his judgment he’d come to several sharp epiphanies. For one, it seemed Sachiko seemed to know more about Light’s _condition_ than Light did and according to Sachiko it was apparently uncommon for a human to live past the first encounter let alone an entire week. 

He’d had several sexual encounters with the incubus… _with Light_ and yet he was still alive. 

Light, _Kira_ could have killed him at any time and yet he was still alive.

The only explanation that made any sort of sense, as insane as it sounded, was that Light really did care about him and was _consciously_ trying not to hurt him. 

But why _wouldn’t_ Kira be trying to hurt him? 

Did he not yet realize he was L? Did he not care? 

if Light knew he was L then what was he thinking getting involved with the enemy?! 

For that matter what was he? 

It occurred to the detective that he wasn't going to get any more answers by moping.

L got up from his chair and began shuffling his way down to the boiler room cell below. 

***

Upon arriving at Light’s cell the first thing L noticed was how Light sat—head bowed, shoulder slumped, and sitting in the center of the pentagram even though L knew that Matsuda broke the circle and that Light now had free reign of the cell.  
Feeling petty, L had given Matsuda many time consuming assignments the last few days so no one had been around to visit Light’s cell. L had watched, bemused, on the monitors when after several hours in the dark Light had gone to sit in the pentagram and stayed there. 

He'd remained there all this time for the past several days. 

Ever since their argument…

L deduced that Light must have thought he _wanted him_ in the demon trap and so there he sat—the very picture of penitence… 

And for some reason it didn’t feel like an act. 

The detective viciously pushed down the ugly feeling of guilt forming in the pit of his stomach. Light made his bed. He could lie in it. Only there was no bed—an oversight when considering containing the demon so now _his Light_ simply sat on the hard, stone floor. 

Dammit, he’d been _so angry_ he was drawing a blank on most of the content of their argument but now that he looked back on it he seemed to recall it had mostly consisted of him shouting and Light agreeing that he was, indeed, a piece of shit. He’d have to review the footage later. After literally leaving him in the dark like this L supposed he owed him that much. 

L studied his prisoner, noting how the demon’s longer, crimson-tinted hair fell into his face. L frowned at this. Light had lovely hair and it seemed a travesty to allow it to become so matted, greasy, and tangled. 

He hadn’t had access to a shower in here either. 

L cringed when he noted how Light’s face lit up when he saw him, his tail wagging happily—like a loyal dog upon the return of his owner. 

_“Ryuuzaki…”_

_Shit._

This was no act. 

L cautiously approached the demon. 

“Ryuuzaki… please. What more do you want from me? _I’m sorry!_ " Light whined from within the circle. 

When Light didn’t get up to meet him after a moment of hesitation L forcefully pulled him to his feet. 

“What did I do wrong? _Please?_ Just tell me! _Please! How can I make this right?”_

L winced when Light collapsed against him, burying his face in his shoulder. His… _ex?_ No—whatever was between them… _it wasn’t over_ so… lover? He wasn’t so sure about that anymore—L wanted to be mad at Light but… but _his Light_ looked all the world like a broken man… demon… _whatever._

And this thrice damned guilt kept leaking through. 

L froze when he felt something wet on his shoulder 

_Is he trying to secrete more demon pheromones on me or…_

_No._

L was horrified to discover that _Light was crying._

_Dammit, coming down here! I shouldn’t have…_

Sure he was angry but breaking Light hadn’t been his intention—well… _not really._

He wanted him to hurt like he was hurting, but he hadn’t wanted _this._

L closed his eyes and embraced the shaking demon. 

_Dammit… if I had been there…_

Surely Light would have told him—he clearly _wanted_ to tell him—but L hadn’t been there nor had he been willing to listen. Perhaps if he hadn’t been such a coward Light would have told _him_ instead of insinuating things to Matsuda. But L hadn’t been talking to Light and he’d made Matsuda carry all of their messages…. no, L realized that by telling Matsuda, Light was trying to tell _him._

Dammit, he’d already left Light down in the dark for far too long. 

He had to admit Light’s cell was most depressing—perhaps then, a change in venue was in order? 

Light sagged in his arms as L injected him with a potent sedative. 

***

It was just a warehouse, one of many others, walls stained with rust, cobwebs in every corner… 

Well at least this one didn’t seem to be infested with pigeons but the scorch marks on the floor weren’t too promising. 

Matsuda glanced down again at the red draught Light had pressed into his hand the last time he’d seen him. 

Yes, this was the address scratched into the surface of hard plastic by demon’s claws. 

Matsuda took a deep breath to steel himself and was hit by the heavy scent of chemicals and charcoal. Just what did Light expect him to find here? 

Should he even look? 

Light was their suspect, after all and possibly… no, _probably_ was Kira. Matsuda hadn’t wanted to believe it; he thought Light was just joking but… Ryuuzaki was right—Light didn’t have much of a sense of humor—or at least they didn’t find the same things funny… At least it seemed unlikely he’d make such a flippant joke given the circumstances… 

The rookie’s fist clenched at his side and his eyes hardened with resolve. He needed to face the truth, as painful as it might be and he was thoroughly sick of being known on the taskforce as “the useless idiot.” Besides, he’d already made the effort to come out here—he might as well see it all the way through to the end. 

Matsuda forced up the warehouse’s steel rolling door to be met with what appeared to be, for lack of better words, a supervillain lair—there were beakers and vials and things, sparking and dinging and whirring machines—and Matsuda knew he was out of his depth here. He glanced over at a table that was covered in pages of hastily written notes penned by Light’s hand—they appeared to be some very advanced math that Matsuda could not make heads or tails out of but they might tell someone like L what was going on.  
Matsuda snapped a few pictures with his cell phone—he knew he should treat the place like a crime scene—he could almost hear Aizawa scolding him _“Don’t touch anything!”_

Speaking of Aizawa surely he’d know what to do…. 

“What is it, Matsuda?” his grumpy colleague answered the phone, “It’s… eight o’clock at night and some of us have lives…” 

“I know. I’m sorry, but you should really come see this! No… _Everyone_ should see this!”


End file.
